Why in the world would they wait 2 months before they start tearing parade floats apart? Seems to me that the job would be much less dirty and no mold flying freely (what's up with that?).
By the way Mike, I've been watching you since the days when you did the Sunday morning real estate show in Washington, DC. Keep up the good work.
Never underestimate the effect of bureaucratic procastonation. It probably took civic authorities that long to get off their butts and organize the groups, secure the payment, and such to start tearing down the floats.