Elko New Market celebrated Fire Rescue Days Thursday, June 25, through Sunday, June 28, plus its annual Saturday, June 27, parade marked its 25th anniversary.
“The parade started because I had this thought that our town needed a parade,” said Jodi Muelken, president of the fire department’s Fire Relief Association, who has helped organize the parade from year one. One difference from 25 years ago was New Market and Elko were still separate communities and both were smaller, said Muelken. Since New Market was smaller it was easier to get onto the agenda of the New Market City Council, Muelken said, adding the city council loved the idea of a parade. “So that’s how it started with just an idea and it grew from there.”
Organizers didn’t have a budget for the first parade. which started as a Fourth of July parade, noted Muelken. They worked as best they could, she said, adding she worked with Ben Caduff, who lived in New Market and was interning at KCHK radio at the time. “He sat with me in a brush truck and we used a PA system to announce the units as they went by,” said Muelken. “We also used to have a kiddie parade, which was organized...
To see more on this story pick up the July 2, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times.