Since I moved to Franklin in 1999, I've been in the parade every year since....all 9 to be exact.

But July 4, 2008 will be the one that I remember, heads & tails above the rest.

First, about halfway through the parade route, a woman, who let's say is a "friendly stalker" who's taken many pictures with me over the years, wanted to take a picture with me again. So she climbs up on the convertible for a photo op...and then proceeds to say "I've always wanted to be in a parade...let me throw some candy with you."

OK, I don't want to be a jerk...so she helps me for about 200 yards, until one of Franklin's finest comes up to the car. I'm thinking this cop is going to kick her off the car...until he says "Ah, do you guys realize that you can't throw candy from the vehicle?"

While this is going on, my driver isn't paying attention to the fact that the cop is hanging onto the car...and you guessed it, RUNS OVER HIS FOOT!

At the same time, people in the crowd are booing and saying "don't you know who Lance is? Let him throw some candy to the kids!"

Since I didn't feel it would be good PR to cause a riot at a parade, I got out of the car as quickly as possible!

To cap off the day, I was walking back to my car when another Franklin police officer offered me a ride...in the back of his squad. I'm sure that looked great...local sports anchor seen in back of patrol car.

And later, someone heard my name on the police scanner. Well, all I can say is I can't hide...so they know where to find me!

Emails at lallan@todaystmj4.com