Boat parades on area lakes have become an annual thing around the 4th of July and with near-perfect weather, the floaters emerged with fun, creative and great-looking water vehicles for the many on-lookers.

Boat and pontoon parades were held in several lakes in the area on the Fourth of July, including the Briggs Lake Chain  and Big Eagle Lake in Big Lake.

Briggs Lake Chain

The Briggs Lake Chain includes the lakes of Julia, Briggs, Rush and Big Elk. Line up for the boat parade commenced at 11 a.m. with the parade starting at noon.

Several boats and ponttoons went with a patriotic theme while others just plain had fun dolling up their rides. One pontoon had its railings donned with grass skirts and an inflatable crocodile hanging on the side. Another had a skeleton and the crew dressed as pirates while another built their craft to look like a Clear Lake Fire Dept. truck — with the riders dressed as firemen and women.

Another pontoon had a 50’s theme, making their ride look like a classic car complete with fuzzy dice. The crowd went wild over the black and red Batmobile that cruised by and then a great Briggs Lake FD float — complete with water squirters — got big cheers from the viewers.

A “Love Bug”-themed float was popular with a front end that featured the VW logo and lots of flowers and “love” messages along the sides. A pink float with “Barbie” plastered along the side had kids and adults dressed like the famous doll in all pink.

Another float featured a St. Patrick’s Day theme with riders dressed to look like leprechauns.

Res Pyro, the fireworks vendor, brought the fireworks to the Briggs boat landing and readied the barges for the evening show. Numerous people raved about the fireworks show on social media as well as the participants in tthe boat parade. Winners of the best-decorated floats were to be announced later in the week.

Big Eagle Lake

A first place trophy was at stake as boaters dolled up their rides for the Big Eagle Lake Improvement Association’s (BELIA) annual boat parade on Big Eagle Lake Sunday.

Participating boats lined up near the public boat landing around 12:45p.m. for a 1 p.m. start.

Parader # 03 — Let’s Get Buzz’d, was selected as this year’s wnner. Their pontoon had a black and yellow canopy  and the riders wore black and yellow-striped shorts and tops.