CELEBRATING OUR NATION’S BIRTH
Tradition draws patriotic crowd to village for annual parade
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. » Nearly 75 units at Wednesday’s annual Fourth of July Parade filed past thousands of onlookers, many of whom expressed the wish that one of the marchers, representing Princess Elsa of the Disney movie “Frozen,” could demonstrate her ice-wielding ability in the 90-degree heat.
But the real motif for the day was red, white and blue, with long-time attendees letting their patriotic side dictate their wardrobe choices.
“Cool but colonial is what I’m going for,” said Saugerties resident Chris Smith, who opted for the kind of white wig that was once popular with the founding fathers.
Smith, whose son was on a Saugerties Youth Football League float, also wore a less-than traditional sleeveless flag shirt.
Resident Sheri Dunn had a similar flag oriented top but added flag-tinted sunglasses and the U.S. colors for a head-wrap. She had grown up in the town and came with two-yearold Jeremiah Wadsworth to maintain an Independence Day family tradition.
“I’ve done this since I ... was probably five or six years old,” she said. “I started doing this when I came with my parents.”
Participants on the parade floats, some with far less experience than the adults, were also buoyed by the opportunity to share their joy over being part of the festivities. Josh McLaren, who will be entering the third grade this
“The parade is a great festival of celebration of the American spirit and our American independence.” — U.S. Rep. John Faso
fall, was on the Habitat for Humanity float and among the children who was anxious to participate in candy tossing along the 1.5-mile parade route.
“Last year I was with my friend and his sister on the float, and we all got hammers,” he said.
Some of the most dedicated participants were the men and women in uniform of community services, like members of Ulster Hose Fire Co., whose dark dress attire was evidence of their dedication as volunteer firefighters.
Some people less than seasonal attire acknowledged they were helping out friends. Don Quick accompanied Speckled Frog Daycare as large fuzzy green frog and approached the continuing heat wave with a plan.
“There’s air conditioning in the back of the vehicle, and I know when to tap out,” he said.
The tone and tenor of the day did have a cooling effect on one thing -- political divisions were tempered by advocates on both sides agreeing that the nation’s birthday is special in Saugerties.
“The parade is a great festival of celebration of the American spirit and our American independence,” said U.S. Rep. John Faso, a Republican from Kinderhook. “Saugerties is the biggest parade, it’s probably the most spectacular parade, and I love the Saugerties parade.”
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, a Democrat, had a similar sentiment.
“The whole community turns out,” he said. “It’s such a broad cross-section of our county but also people from all around the region because it’s that good ... and I will tell you the level of patriotism simply reminds me of a Norman Rockwell-like scenario. It’s beautiful.”