City’s annual 4th of July Parade again to be online event
For a second straight year, Fremont’s 4th of July Parade — which normally draws thousands to the city’s main drags — won’t be a street affair.
But there will be a parade, and residents who want to consider themselves a part of it will be sitting on their front porches and balconies on July 4 watching a two-hour Facebook Live broadcast of what passes for one in the COVID-19 age.
And although they won’t see any marchers, baton twirlers or floats go by on the streets in front of them, they can look up into the distant skies at about 10 a.m. to catch a good old-fashioned flyover of Beechcraft-style aircraft, performed by the California Beech Boys and the Commemorative Air Force.
As for the broadcast itself, there’ll be local politicians doing interviews with “hometown heroes” and plenty of prizes for the best decorated porches and
balconies judged in the days leading up to Independence Day, plus prizes for neighborhood participation and other categories, organizers say.
This year’s Grand Marshal will be the entire Basrai family, owners of Haller’s Pharmacy, a city institution. They’re being honored for their dedicated work with the city in helping residents get vaccinated this year, according to parade organizer Jesse Schaa.
Because it wasn’t clear until recently when pandemic-related health orders would be lifted, Schaa said there simply wasn’t enough time to do all the necessary preparation and coordination for a large outdoor parade and to secure all the necessary permits.
The pandemic also pushed some sponsors away, making it financially unlikely organizers would have been able to put on a regular parade even if they had the time.
But organizers are optimistic that the second porch parade will be as big a hit as the first one.
“It was such a huge success last year, people love seeing all the neighborhoods decorated in red, white and blue,” Schaa said.
“We wanted to keep the community spirit going,” he added.
Schaa said those who want to participate in the porch parade should get their decorations up by June 20, when judges will start driving through registered neighborhoods to pick the winners.
The online broadcast will start around 10 a.m., Schaa said.
For more information on how to register for the porch parade contest, visit the parade’s website at fremont4th.org, or its Facebook page at Facebook. com/fremont4th.