FERRIDAY — Americans love parades, especially those that commemorate America.

Residents of and visitors to Lake St. John took that love a step further Saturday with their yearly parade on water, trading wheels on the road for boats riding gentle waves.

Some took to the lake with watercraft bedecked with flags or parade paraphernalia, while others in the laid-back 34-boat procession didn’t even bother with shirts.

The annual flotilla originally began as a blessing of the fleet for the lake community, flotilla committee member Richard Alwood said, but grew into an event that pulls many to the lake each year.

“It started out very low key, and every year there has been another layer of organization added to it,” he said. “But it has grown largely by word-of-mouth.”

With the added organization has come an effort to use the flotilla as a fundraiser for beautification around the lake and for local charities, Alwood said.

The funds are dispersed to charities as needed by the flotilla committee, he said.

And while the flotilla does serve as a community fun event, it still serves its original purpose of the blessing of the fleet.

The Rev. Louis Sklar, pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Ferriday, blessed each boat with a sprinkling of holy water as it passed by the Steckler family pier. The lake community is considered part of the pastoral territory for St. Patrick’s church, Sklar said.

“In a sense, this is a part of my parish,” he said.

The blessing of the fleet is an ecumenical event, and anyone who passed by and requested the sprinkling of water first blessed at St. Patrick’s during the Easter vigil received it.

“We take this opportunity to pray for safety on the lake for the rest of the year,” Sklar said. “This is not about what denomination we are. The important point is we are here on the Fourth of July (weekend) and we are expressing thankfulness for what we have been given — in a way, it’s like a high holy day for our community.”

For those who want to give thanks in church as well as on the water, Sklar said St. Patrick’s will host a special 6:30 p.m. Sunday Mass.

The flotilla traveled the length of the lake, and participants had to pass four piers in addition to the one on which the secret panel of judges scored each float.

Those who managed to make all four piers had their names entered into drawings for prizes, including $500 cash, Alwood said.

“We did that to encourage people to complete the loop so the people on the other side of the lake got to see the flotilla,” he said.

At the end of the day, the overall prize for best flotilla entry was given to Mike Cook and Cathy Rouze. The patriotic boat award went to Barry Maxwell, while the non-patriotic boat recognition went to Drew Loomis and crew.