4th of July Festivities
By Sierra Madre Weekly
Published: Thursday, July 1st, 2010
You won’t need fireworks to brighten the foothills during the City of Sierra Madre’s Fourth of July Celebration. The City will be celebrating the holiday in style with a gala parade, concerts, games, food, drink, and plenty of family-friendly fun. Rather than confine the festivities to one day only, the Fourth of July Activities will span Saturday, July 3 through Monday, July 5.
A Pre-Parade Party in Memorial Park on Saturday, July 3, 5:00-10:00 p.m., kicks off the weekend’s events. The Food Booths and Beer Garden, operated by volunteers from local nonprofit groups, will open at 5:00 p.m. The popular Bubble-Wrap “Fireworks-O-Rama,” a playful event for the youngsters, is now in its sixth year. At 6:00 p.m., Aluminum Marshmallow, known for its exhilarating “Age of Aquarius Horns,” will take to the stage and set the night ablaze with classic 60s and 70s rock ‘n’ roll. Seating for this, and all other concerts, is on the green, so concert-goers will want to bring along a lawn chair or blanket.
On Sunday, July 4th, the Food Booths and Beer Garden in Memorial Park will again be open from 5:00-10:00 p.m. Be ready to rock and roll by 5:30, when Rocktail will be performing in concert. The band specializes in classic rock and typically invites the audience to sing along with their favorite tunes. Not to leave out the kids, at 8:00 p.m. there will be a showing of the movie “Shrek.”
On Monday, July 5th, between 8:00-10:00 a.m., the Sierra Madre Woman’s Club will hold a complimentary pre-parade breakfast, at the historic Essick House, located on the corner of Sierra Madre Blvd. and Sunnyside Avenue. Now an established tradition, volunteers from the Woman’s Club serve parade-goers a tasty continental breakfast of sweet rolls, fruit, juice, coffee and tea. A highlight of the breakfast is the spirited songfest of patriotic tunes, played by Eunice Banis on the Club’s antique Chickering piano.
Sierra Madre’s famous Fourth of July Parade, starts on Monday, July 5 at 10:00 a.m. Leading the parade down Sierra Madre Blvd. will be artist and civic leader Lew Watanabe, this year’s Grand Marshall. This hometown parade brings the community out in full force, and wouldn’t be complete without the Civic Club’s “confetti eggs,” which are sold from a booth in Memorial Park. Hundreds of empty raw egg shells that volunteers have carefully emptied and then filled with confetti, punctuate the air with color as they are burst by parade-goers along the parade route.
Traditionally, water has been squirted back and forth amongst viewers and participants during the parade. However, this year the City has established a new set of Water Play Zone Guidelines. Sierra Vista Park is now the only designated water play zone (west side of the park on the grass lawn). The Sierra Madre Fire Department will be spraying water into Sierra Vista Park for children and families to play in. Only water/squirt guns will be permitted at the water play zone. Absolutely no water balloons or use of water hoses will be tolerated at the water play zone or anywhere along the parade route.
Absolutely NO water will be allowed along the parade route. Parking signage will exhibit a “No Water Zone” notice along Sierra Madre Blvd.
The Community Picnic in Memorial Park immediately follows the parade. The Food Booths and Beer Garden will open at Noon. Also at Noon, the band Night Blooming Jazzmen will get everyone in the groove with a concert of hot and cool jazz at the bandshell. On the south lawn throughout the afternoon kids can enjoy a variety of games, face painting, and balloons.
Matt Bosse is Chairman of the all-volunteer Fourth of July Committee. If you are interested in becoming a committee member or volunteering in the future, please contact Matt at 626-836-8580. Contributions to support the 4th of July festivities are also welcome, are tax-deductible, and help keep this Sierra Madre tradition alive. Checks made out to The Sierra Madre Community Foundation may be sent to P.O. Box 716, Sierra Madre 91025.
Leave a Reply
