Reed wore a retired U.S. Army hat and a USA T-shirt while waving at all the people as they passed by him.

He said he was a member of the Army National Guard in Jackson, Mich., and he was one of the first people to be sent to Kuwait for Operation Desert Storm.

This wasn’t the first time he had come to the Fourth of July parade, but Reed said it had been a few years since he last attended and it was good to be there again.

“I like seeing the people respect the independence of our country,” Reed said.

Brett Kaschinske, Lansing Parks and Recreation Director, the number of entries in the parade is up from past years.

“We have 75 entries,” he said. “That’s up a little bit.”

Kaschinske added that because this year is an election year, and there are more political candidates entering floats in the parade.

He also thinks the time of the week helps out the attendance.

“We’re expecting three to four thousand (people),” he said. “The mid-week helps.”

Jonathan Walker , a summer intern for the Lansing Parks and Recreation Department, said he has never worked at a parade before and his job is to get the participants in order.

“I’m working with lining up the participants,” he said.

Walker said he is a Recreation and Sport Management student at The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and that this is his second of three required internships.

He originally is from Flint and said he wanted to get an internship in a bigger city, and that Lansing is very nice.

Kaschinske said his favorite part of the parade is when the colorgaurd goes out on the street.
“When the colorgaurd goes out and supports the veterans, that’s the best part.”