Community celebrates with Fourth of July Parade
July 4, 2018
Members of the community came out, despite the intense heat, to watch the Fourth of July Parade Wednesday afternoon.
As the fire truck horns started to ring through the air, children started to jump with excitement to see the many different parade floats and to get a bunch of free candy.
Two brothers Liam and Lennon Callaway, 6 and 3 years old, had a lemonade stand on the parade route.
Liam said business was good at the parade, and he wanted to make money in order to buy new toys.
“He needed to make some money he said, ‘I’m 6 and I need a job.’ So we were like ‘OK what can you do at 6?’ So, yeah, this is his first job,” said Liam and Lennon’s grandmother, Debra Sullivan.
Liam and Lennon’s parents and grandparents wanted to teach them the value of a dollar with the lemonade stand.
Liam said his favorite part of the parade was the “bubbles,” and the Family Video car because his favorite Avenger, Captain America, was on it.
Mother and daughter Marlene and Natasha Wiley brought their 9-month-old dog Stella to the parade.
They said Stella was well-behaved for a puppy, but she could not resist all of the candy flying around during the parade.
Natasha, a senior at Charleston High School, said she enjoyed the LGBT organization PFLAG Charleston’s march in the parade.
“The Pride flag, supporting that, which was a wonderful thing because that came about (in the parade) last year. I myself like to support them because they deserve it,” Natasha said.
They both said the parade’s popularity has increased over the years and more people tend to show up.
There were a line of sports cars in the parade, and the Wileys said they really enjoyed that part of the parade.
Hannah Choate, an eighth-grader at Charleston Middle School, has lived on the parade route for most of her life, and she has watched the parade every year.
“Well as I’ve gotten older, I haven’t really needed all of the candy, but it’s still fun watching it with my friends. I enjoy seeing all of my friends in the parade,” she said.
Jordan Boyer can be reached at 581-2312 or jtboyer@eiu.edu.
