Eastmoreland’s July 4th parade grows year by year

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 1, 2012

With Independence Day being a mid-week holiday this year, many people slept in, and then sauntered outside later for a backyard barbecue.

But not Eastmoreland neighbors!

By 11 am, at least a thousand people had gathered in the Duniway Elementary School lot, for the annual July 4th parade up and down S.E. Reed College Place.

“We are all here together celebrating this amazing country we live in,” smiled organizer Karen Mularski, after she welcomed the joyous throng gathered around the P.A. system. She went on to thank the event’s donors and the 20 volunteers who helped mount the event.

“Perhaps something like this could only happen in Eastmoreland, because it’s an amazing family-friendly neighborhood, full of wonderful folks who support each other through both good times and hard times,” speculated Mularski.

Neighbor Lee Casteel watched and smiled as the parade passed her porch on Reed College Place. “It’s just charming, isn’t it? I love it every year. And every year it seems to grow larger. This is real community involvement, and a neat way to pass traditions down to the next generation — like respect for our country.”

After the parade, the party kept going, thanks to ice donated by Safeway, candy from e.moreland Market & Kitchen — and a couple thousand sizzling hotdogs again provided by Otto’s Sausage Kitchen.

After this event, only watching fireworks could top off the day. The big show in Southeast, as always, was at dusk in nearby Oaks Amusement Park.