By Ken Stern 

Parade, concert, fireworks fill July 4

 

OH, SAY, CAN YOU SEE THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE? – Fireworks sponsored by the Town of La Conner once again lit a night sky on Sunday. Before and after the 15 minute display, Native firework vendors put on a show lasting some five hours, with perhaps the last boom heard either side of 2 a.m. July 4th photos, pages 3 and 4. – Photo by Nancy Crowell

La Conner’s once again annual July 4th parade started up First Street shortly after noon – 12:20 p.m., actually – Sunday, greeted by spectator cheers and applause. On this picture perfect weather day – it was 70 degrees at noon and 76 degrees at 4 p.m. – everyone, paraders and attendees, was smiling, with many on both sides decked out in red, white and blue in all kinds of permutations, from head to toe.

Locals arrived early with their chairs, staking out prime space at the curb. Jo Mitchell brought family and friends visiting from Mesa, Arizona. Yes it was pretty hot a week ago here, wasn’t it? They were at the Washington Street corner of the post office. Others claimed benches along the street.

The parade seemed about a third longer in length and to take a third longer – 20 minutes, instead of 15 – to pass by. La Conner’s 1941 white Ford firetruck, following a Sheriff’s Office motorcycle, led the way. Some 12 tractors, almost all John Deere, from almost as many decades, rode through. Lots of classic cars also stretched the parade out.

Candy abounded as paraders tossed handful after handful to the curbs. At least one considerate man gathered some up and gave it back to kids on a float, perhaps for them to toss it out again.

Local elders from the La Conner Sunrise Food Bank, Rotary Club and Soroptimists marched behind their organizations’ banner. Jim Airy, Tami Mason and Bob Raymond rotated their food bank banner around. Anne Airy and Stuart Hutt followed behind, passing out bottles of water from mini shopping carts.

Brad Bradford, on his tricycle, was not the only Uncle Sam, but his beard was probably the whitest.

There were dogs, too, seemingly not as many in the parade and more in the crowd.

Bill Stokes, sporting an American flag tie, actively campaigned, his red, white and blue adorned pickup truck carrying his name as a town council candidate. A woman in green attire reminiscent of 1920s dress could have been a suffragette. Her sign: “Independence for All.”

Alas, if it was a perfect parade, it was different, missing Shriners in their little cars. There were no bands, the most audible organized music being the Catmobile. La Conner’s Kiwanis and senior center staff and volunteer sat this year out. There seemed to be fewer kids on bicycles.

The crowd spread out from Center down to Commercial streets, but there were holes. Still, everyone came, from babies in arms and strollers to grandparents in walkers. Afterwards, Charles Talman reflected on the generations of families he saw: “The kids have grown up. The parents are gray haired. Their kids are having kids.”

The parade lasted longer because La Conner’s firetruck and the Catmobile brought up the rear, having circled around for a second go.

Blues blare in Gilkey Square

Mary Ellen Lykins and the C.C. Adams Band played the first concert in Gilkey Square since September 2019, performing for over three hours. People danced, flowing on and off the space in front of the band depending on the song. They filled the dance area for Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.”

Councilmember John Leaver gained Town approval for bringing the band in.

Fireworks light night sky

Town sponsored fireworks returned after a coronavirus pandemic one year absence. The contractor started shooting his arsenal from the west side of the Swinomish Channel north of the Three Hats park promptly at 10 p.m. and residents and visitors alike were treated to a solid 15 minute performance. But an hour or more before, Swinomish fireworks vendors started launching their leftover inventory from at least three sites on or near the channel as well as from Snee Oosh beach on the west side of the peninsula. These displays went on right through the Town’s act and continued to either side of 2 a.m. on the channel.

Some in the audience on the boardwalk and gathered in Gilkey Square left at 10:15 p.m. But most had come early for the extended version of the night’s show and many stayed another 30 minutes or more. It was 11 p.m. when a last teenager was left alone on the stove wall.

 

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