Catawba County NC native writes book, "Mr. & Mrs. Parade"

Paul Hartis found a love of parade floats after moving to Newton as a child and growing up a couple of blocks from where Joe and Catherine Cline kept floats in an old barn.

Hartis said he was fascinated by the floats and would watch as floats pulled up to the start of the Soldiers Reunion parade each year.

“They (the parades and floats) were an opportunity for the community and they reflected what was there,” Hartis said.

Hartis has written a book chronicling a history of parade floats created by the Cline family called “Mr. & Mrs. Parade: The history of Cline’s Floats of Catawba County.”

The floats the Clines built, and the parades, were about showing off more than creativity, Hartis said.

“That was an opportunity for public display. … For civic pride,” Hartis said. “Every company, b