Hometown Heroes : Laguna’s Patriot’s Day Parade Recalls More Recent Battles

It was their first time marching together in the annual Patriot’s Day Parade here Saturday morning. They hope there won’t be a next time.

The two dozen people walking under a bright banner proclaiming “Thanks to Everyone” lost homes or endured serious damage in last February’s mudslides and the Oct. 27 firestorm that ravaged this pristine beach community. They are are busy trying to replace them.

“It’s an exciting rebuilding time,” said Ken Crumley, 61, who walked the parade route triumphantly holding aloft the blueprints for a new home that will replace the one in Mystic Hills where he had lived for almost 30 years.

“The neighbors have locked arms. We used to know eight neighbors, now we know 200. There’s no place like Laguna Beach.”

For many of the thousands of spectators and participants at the 28th annual Patriot’s Day Parade, spending an hour and a half downtown with friends and neighbors just as they have every year was a way to celebrate the sense of community that blossomed among the ashes left by the wildfire.

“With everything we’ve been through in the past few months, this is great,” said Laguna Beach resident Tammy Gutierrez, 29, who brought her balloon-toting sons, Jerry and Corey, to see the marching bands, show horses and classic cars.

Gutierrez said she remembers how frightened she was when she rushed home from work to evacuate her home when the fire broke out, and is glad that day is behind her. “The parade says, ‘We’re going to make it. We’re getting through it as best we can,’ ” said Gutierrez, whose home was not damaged.

Patriot’s Day is the remembrance of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which began the American Revolution. It is a legal holiday in Massachusetts, where it is celebrated on the third Monday in April, because the battles in which eight American revolutionaries died occurred on April 19, 1775.

The Laguna Beach parade is always long on national pride. Saturday was no exception, as people of all ages sitting along the route waved tiny American flags while the Laguna Beach Elementary Band banged out “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

But this year, the shiny fire engine and fire survivors’ float that rolled down Forest Avenue decorated with a partial house frame overshadowed parade mainstays such as the Daughters of the American Revolution entry and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post contingent.

“Get on your feet and give them a big round of applause,” the parade announcer urged as the Laguna Beach firefighters traveled past. “A lot more homes would have been lost if not for these hardy souls.”

The standing ovation continued as the rebuilding homeowners came by, toting house plans, brooms and hammers.

“Have those plans been approved by the city yet?” the announcer joked, adding in a more serious tone, “We should thank you for showing us what people can do when they work together.”