Nearly 100 years of tradition

Jenny Marder

A grand tradition was set in motion in 1904, when Surf City’s very

first Independence Day celebration was held, featuring greased pig

contests, vaudeville shows, fortune tellers and wrestling matches.

Now, only 24 hours before the city’s 99th anniversary celebration and

parade, residents are smoothing out flags, unraveling streamers and

putting the final touches on their floats.

Since its inception, attendance has swelled from 50,000 to nearly

300,000, and performances now feature marching bands, floats,

dancers, clowns and celebrities. Still, Surf City continues to boast

the largest and oldest Fourth of July parade west of the Mississippi.

Service members who have returned from the Persian Gulf will lead

the parade as it snakes from 8th Street and Pacific Coast Highway

south to Main Street and through Downtown, finishing at the

intersection of Main Street and Yorktown Avenue.

Trying to keep the number of entries to about 300 proved to be a

difficult task for Fourth of July organizers, who were overwhelmed

with eager participants.

“Each year, we strive to make it more entertaining,” coordinator

Connie Young said. “One of the largest requirements for the entries

is entertainment value.”

Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney will serve as grand marshal, a

coveted title held in the past by former President Franklin Delano

Roosevelt and actor Robert Wagner. Tony Tovatt, a 78-year Huntington

Beach resident, will be this year’s community grand marshal.

Celebrities will include Matt Gallant, host of Animal Planet’s “The

Planet’s Funniest Animals”, Lisa Foiles, season regular of

Nickelodeon’s series “All That” and Lauren Woodland, who stars on the

“Young and the Restless.”

Some might argue that the old favorites are more important to a

hometown parade than any flashy new act. Like to a classic movie or a

worn out teddy bear, people return every year to catch site of

familiar, beloved performances such as the Cub Scout float, the Dance

Star dancers, the Pearl Harbor Survivors and the knee-high miniature

horses.

Huntington’s Boy Scout troop, which marches every year and builds

a float for the Cub Scouts who are too young to march, is feverishly

getting ready for the big day.

As many as 30 6- and 7-year-old Tiger Cubs will be on the float --

a flatbed truck filled with bales of hay, covered in streamers and

balloons, crowing patriotic music and bearing a flag that reads, “99

years, the tradition lives.”

“We strictly build it for the idea of getting as many kids in the

parade as we can,” said Jon Ross, parade coordinator for the Scouts

and a member of the Fourth of July Committee. “The important thing is

to have kids in the parade.”

The Dance Stars, a group of 25 young dancers, ages 4 through 12,

are busy practicing moves. The girls will sport curly ponytails with

big blue polka-dot bows and bright red shorts as they strut their

stuff down Main Street. The younger ones will ride in a colorful

float.

Kelly Higgins, trainer for the Dance Stars, said that decorating

the float usually keeps her up all night on the eve of the parade,

but the joy it brings to the girls is worth it.

“You can just see it in these kids faces as they dance,” Higgins

said. “They see a teacher or their best friend and they feel so

important. It’s very exciting for them.”

The Pearl Harbor veterans will be marching again this year with a

Pearl Harbor flag, five restored World War II military cars and

banners. As most Pearl Harbor veterans are in their mid- to late 80s,

some will be assisted by family members, said Edward Sowman,

president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors.

Six miniature horses, known as the knee-high minis, also prove to

be crowd pleasers every year. Under 3 feet in height, the tiny

horses, decorated with ribbons, paints and flags, will be lead

through the parade by their owners.

The day will begin at sunrise with the Surf City 5K run/walk and

then a pancake breakfast held at Lake Park, hosted by the Kiwanis

Club. The parade will run from 10 a.m. to noon and conclude with a

free concert and patriotic dress contest at Huntington’s Pier Plaza

entertainment.

There will be no fireworks show this year. What would have been

the second largest fireworks display in the nation was canceled in

February by a divided City Council that feared a repeat of civil

unrest that took place Downtown in years past.

For last minute information on any Fourth of July events in Surf

City, call (714) 374-1535.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].