A SoCal 4th: Variety on Parade
The beauty of Southern California on the Fourth of July is that it is possible, in the course of a single day, to hear patriotic martial music in a small-town park and cumbia music in Boyle Heights, watch a parade celebrating America and hear people denounce it, eat hot dogs and tacos and Chinese dumplings, see fireworks spangle the sky and check out the woman in Venice wearing the two-piece electric blue majorette outfit with a spray of red, white and blue metallic stars flying off her ponytail.
On a classically sun-grilled day Friday, all that and much more were on view as people launched a three-day weekend by celebrating American independence -- or not -- in multitudinous ways.
In Monterey Park, residents camped out as early at 4 a.m. to secure a prime spot in front of the Barnes Park bandstand where, by noon, the municipal concert band was crashing through a selection of patriotic marches and show tunes. Beneath rows of red, white and blue balloons, vendors sold ice cream, pizza and doughnuts as well as sui mai dumplings and barbecue pork buns, a reflection of the city’s multiethnic makeup.
Many people said that July 4 has taken on new and special meaning in Monterey Park as immigrants have become U.S. citizens. About 15 people were introduced on the bandstand as new citizens.
Rodolfo Fuentes, 66, a Guatemala native and a naturalized U.S. citizen, said his upbringing amid the unstable and sometimes autocratic governments of Central America gave him a special respect for his adopted country. He wore a T-shirt emblazoned: “United States of America -- United We Stand.”
“This country gives us liberty of expression and movement, the right to vote and all kinds of rights that they don’t have in other places,” Fuentes said as he sat in the shade enjoying the music with his friend, Rosa Carranza, 85.
Two veterans used the occasion to start on a cross-country walk in support of the men and women coming home from service in Iraq.
Steve Lovett, a 36-year-old paramedic, and Brian Duff, a 35-year-old real estate agent, gathered with friends and family at the Santa Monica Pier for a small but lively send-off. The two described themselves as former Army Rangers who plan to walk 25 to 30 miles a day, reaching Washington, D.C., on Veterans Day. Lovett said their goal is to get people to pay more attention to the two holidays “and make plans to take care of the soldiers when they come home.”
In Boyle Heights, musicians, leftist activists and Eastside hipsters gathered in the sun for an event dubbed the Farce of July. It was a fund-raiser for the “Peace and Dignity Journeys,” described as treks across the continent on foot to promote “the healing of our nations.” Bands played cumbia, rock and reggae outside while, inside a meeting hall, a ponytailed man led student-age participants through a lecture on Nahuatl philosophy. Nahuatl is the ancient Indian language that was spoken in parts of what is now the Southwestern United States and Mexico.
Marisol Torres, 27, who was born and raised in Southern California, spent the early part of the afternoon on stage with the poetry and music group she co-founded, In Lak Ech. Torres said she found little to celebrate on the holiday.
“The Fourth of July has a deeper meaning,” she said. “The history that did take place was a very destructive history, and you can’t deny what happened. There was a slaughter, a genocide of people. So I can’t say people could ever be happy for the Fourth of July.”
The evidence, however, suggested that most were.
Drawn by clear skies and cool ocean breezes, more than 50,000 people flocked to downtown Ventura for the annual Fourth of July Street Fair, where they stuffed their faces with tamales and funnel cakes, grooved to a jazz band and checked out vendor booths peddling a cornucopia that included handmade soap and fur-covered Hula Hoops.
Earlier in the day, thousands lined Main Street for the Pushem-Pullem Parade, an Independence Day rite in which ordinary people march in a sea of red, white and blue to celebrate their freedom and America’s birthday.
There were moms pulling babies in wagons draped with American flags, teenagers pushing themselves on scooters wrapped in glittery streamers, kids tossing candy at other kids, and dads clutching video cameras to record it all for posterity.
“It’s a really neat tradition,” said 27-year-old Jennifer Lehr, whose two young daughters were taking part in the parade, just as she had at their age. “It makes you feel like it’s still a small town. It’s very homey.”
In South Pasadena, a neighborly town of 25,000, residents crowded Mission Street for the annual Fourth of July parade, a celebration similarly packed with the feel of small-town America and characterized by support for U.S. troops in the Middle East.
“It’s a good, hometown feeling,” said Eugene Peron, 75, a retired Pasadena police officer and former Naval Reserve member who has been coming to the parade for 20 years. “You come out and see people you know and you also think about the servicemen who are away from home. This is a way to show our unity.”
Toddlers waved American flags and flag-wearing adults cheered as Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and cheerleaders from local schools marched past.
“I feel like I’m in the middle of Iowa in a farm town,” said John Knapp, who brought his year-old son, Willy, to enjoy the parade. “It’s nice to see people waving at each other. You don’t see that a lot in Los Angeles.”
As many as 250,000 people lined the sidewalks of Huntington Beach to cheer the 99th running of the city’s annual July 4 parade as it wound down Pacific Coast Highway and up Main Street to City Hall. For all the parade’s size and its celebrity -- the marshals this year were Mickey Rooney and Reggie Jackson -- its charm lies in its folksiness, viewers said.
“This is the only piece of small-town America you get in California,” said Brian Fried, a 36-year-old beverage company manager who, perhaps, needs to learn more about South Pasadena and Ventura, among other places.
He and his family got to the parade’s starting point about 10 minutes before the 330 entries began marching. They were there when a tiny Scout lost his troop, and well-wishers shouted: “Hey, sweetie! They’re starting! Oh, he was looking at the girls!” They were there to watch the Lynwood High School band blare “Louie Louie.” And they were there to hear more than one sparkling float crank out “Surf City,” drowning out the very real waves that were crashing a few yards away.
Up the coast, in Venice, some people wondered just what was under those waves. There had been reports of sightings earlier in the week of young great white sharks in the vicinity.
“If they have sharks, I’m not going in the water,” said Darrell Pickens, 50, an unemployed Pasadena resident who was kicked back under a palm tree. “Would you? I mean, I’m just here relaxing and hanging out for the Fourth. I don’t want to go near any sharks.”
But most people seemed to take the shark reports in stride. Among them was William Shaw, a 39-year-old Venice resident and surfer.
“Sharks are my brothers,” he said while waxing his board. “If you feel fear, they can smell it, and they’ll attack you. But if you respect them, you’ll be fine. There are plenty of sharks out there, but you just gotta respect all the living things. Peace out, sister!”
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Times staff writers Allison T. Hoffman, Olga Rodriguez, Kathleen Flynn, Ashley Powers and Jenifer Ragland contributed to this report.