We love a parade and, obviously, so do you because Milford’s annual Labor Day parade last week was a huge hit.

That was evidenced by the number of people watching but also, we’re happy to report, by the number of participants. It has been several years since we’ve seen so many floats. Perhaps the number can be attributed to the theme, “The Year of the American Farmer,” because here in New Hampshire, we still have a healthy respect for farms and those who work them.

And, of course, some of the parade’s success can be attributed to the fact that this is a state election year with candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and the Statehouse, participating.

What we hope, though, is that the turnout among participants and viewers can be attributed to a new sense of community, something that has been diminishing in recent years as we have become more insulated as a society, thanks to the need for dual incomes and for our love affair with our in-home or in-hand devices. We seem to connect more with people electronically, or through the ether, than we do on a person-to-person level.

It would be nice to believe that the turnout at the parade was an indication that folks are seeking more personal connections, even if it just means getting a wave from Jeanne Shaheen or Scott Brown.

We wonder, too, if those of you who were there were as impressed as we by the floats, not just the number but the effort that went into them. Those of us at The Cabinet remaining from the old days, i.e. 10 years ago, remember participating in the Labor Day parade and the Amherst July 4 parade and building our floats, and how much work it took to put them together.

So when we saw the beauties passing us by on Labor Day, we could only marvel at the willingness of people to put in such effort.

Now we have not seen, at this writing, the list of winners but we can tell you our two favorites:

The Milford Garden Club.

The Milford Girl Scouts.

Did you see them?

Were they your favorites?

If not, drop us a line or, of course, an email and tells us which ones you liked best.