VARNVILLE, S.C. — It is not nearly seven o’clock in the morning yet, but already the Main Street of this Hampton County town, from West Carolina Street through Elm Street one town over, has families of all shapes, sizes, and colors planting their chairs or blankets along the parade route for the annual Watermelon Day Parade.

Young children were still yawning in their mother’s arms as their older siblings chased each other around playing the age-old game of tag.