Since 2011, Danny Westfall and his wife Cathy Westfall bought a new John Deer tractor that happened to come with a wagon. At their family reunion, the kids and Danny would play with bubbles until the kids dumped over the pan, ending their play time, but stirring up an idea.  Westfall thought, what if there was a way to repurpose the wagon to hold bubbles? The new invention was a success at the family reunion and was tried out in public at the Jacksonburg, West Virginia homecoming parade for the first time.

Westfall, a retired Wetzel County Schools bus driver of 13 years. Before that, he worked for the New Martinsville Post Office for 33 years.

“Both jobs I was smiling. Some of the kids are so special you never leave them,” said Westfall.

Laycie Dreyfuse. 13, lived in New Martinsville as a toddler, but now resides in Huntington. She met Westfall when she was 4.

“When Laycie was just big enough to walk, every morning she would try to get on the bus with her sister,” said Westfall.

Westfall’s homecoming to Huntington brings great up childhood memories to Dreyfuse.

“He’s bringing New Martinsville here, he brings back childhood memories,” said Dreyfuse. “He used to come to the Bubble Wagon to the Villas and we would all do it and him coming to me is something special.”

Cathy Westfall sees the joy the Bubble Wagon brings to people of all ages. The furthest the Westfalls have traveled is Mediapolis, Iowa for its Town and Country Days’s parade, also known as “biggest small-town parade in Iowa.” The Bubble Wagon received a trophy for the most unique entry.

From traveling all over West Virginia and in a small town in Iowa, the greatest memory from the Bubble Wagon are the smiles.

“The smiles. The kids screaming during the parade, ‘Bubbles,’ all the way along the way,” said Westfall.

This is the second year Westfalls have come to Marshall’s homecoming parade.

Sadie Helmick can be contacted at [email protected].