The Lawn Rangers are a "precision lawn mower drill team" from Arcola, Illinois

Arcola, Illinois

Arcola is a city in Douglas County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,916 at the 2010 census. The city was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad was built through the county...

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Founded in 1980 by a group of men from Arcola, Illinois, the Lawn Rangers are the first of their kind. Two of the men, Pat Monahan and John O'Halloran, decided that they wanted to be in their hometown parade, the annual Broom Corn Festival parade, so they started to think about what skills they possessed. After deciding that they didn't have any, their wives told them that the only common skill they had was for mowing the lawn. Since Pat Monahan was part owner of the Thomas Monahan Broom Company, they decided to push lawn mowers and toss brooms in the parade. They still needed a name for what they were doing. Fortunately, Clayton Moore, the original Lone Ranger was the Grand Marshall of that year's Broom Corn Parade. It was destiny that they became the World Famous "Lawn Rangers". Over the years the Lawn Rangers have lived life by their motto: You're only young once, but you can always be immature.

The group has participated in a number of parades including the Holiday Bowl

Holiday Bowl

The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. Beginning with the 2010 playing the bowl will officially be known as the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl after...

 parade in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, the Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...

 parade in Tempe, Arizona

Tempe, Arizona

Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...

, the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

 parade, and the NFL Hall of Fame Game parade in Canton, Ohio

Canton, Ohio

Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. The group considers the Broomcorn Festival parade in their hometown of Arcola to be their flagship parade.

Of the participants, perhaps the most famous is humorist Dave Barry

Dave Barry

David "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...

, who has marched with the parade on a number of occasions and written about them in his column.

The Illinois General Assembly

Illinois General Assembly

The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois and comprises the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Illinois has 59 legislative districts, with two...

 honored the Lawn Rangers with a resolution commemorating their achievements in 2005.

On November 12, 2008, the nationally syndicated television show Inside Edition

Inside Edition

Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...

did a feature story on the Lawn Rangers and the fact that Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 was pictured with them holding a green toilet plunger in 2003, and that the Lawn Rangers were under consideration for participation in the January 20, 2009, United States Presidential Inaugural Parade. This story on Inside Edition has been featured as one of many Lawn Rangers related entries on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

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On December 5, 2008, The Lawn Rangers were officially invited to march in the January 20, 2009, United States Presidential Inaugural Parade. On the day of the parade, lawn mowers were decorated for the occasion, with one mower sporting a large blow-up photo of Obama waving the plunger. The President pointed to the picture when he spotted it in the parade, and he and Mrs. Obama laughed.