The town of Sonoma puts on what every Fourth of July Celebration should be: very local, very small town and everyone who wants to be involved can be. The parade usually kicks off with a Civic Group like the Native Sons of the Golden West holding a huge American flag and ends with the volunteer fire department parading their equipment and blowing their sirens. In between are classic cars, local gardening groups, kids, dogs, horses, karate classes, pickup trucks and tractors. Here are some of the highlights:
BEST! FLOAT! EVER! Valley of the Moon Gardeners.
Featuring 94-year-old gardener Rosemary Indelicato!
The Sonoma Valley Mustard Company had a parade contingent of 12 dachshunds dressed as hot dogs.
The unmanned teddy bear wagon train!
And its caboose.
I'm not sure who this guy represented. Not the local Funeral Parlor.
In Sonoma, if you have a tractor and kids with flags, you've got a float. We are totally entering a float next year.
The Kettlebell Class at Sonoma Gym. Good thing the parade only went around the Square. Those weights must have been heavy.
Unfortunately, the "Indians" were wrong on so many levels. From the Plains Indian headdresses to the horses' painted hooves. Well, the kids liked 'em.
Dress was casual. For some, that meant jammies with feet.
The littlest patriot.
See all the photos here.
Oh, I agree – that’s what a fourth of July parade should look like. Every one of those pictures made me smile more broadly than the one before it.
Ours got raine out so glad I got to see yours
Our fireworks got rained out, but we had plenty of the natural kind.
Everyone loves a parade!
You’ve definitely got to get in on the action next year. The teddy bear trail with the little bear hanging on at the end – parade genius-ry!
How about Syd and his “natural fireworks”! He probably had the best 4th!
Looks like everyone had a splendid time, though I wonder what the wiener dogs thought about being treated like wieners.
Next year, your float can feature the world’s most beautiful baby.
Loved the pictures of your hometown parade. Small town parades are the best!
Just dropping in from the Women’s Colony to say HI and meet some other bloggers.
Have a great day!
Did they have a town band? We had a big one that I played tenor sax in once as a child, like 30-40 people. Crowd favourite was Sousa’s Liberty Bell March, aka the Monty Python Theme. I always liked The Thunderer myself. This was when there was a music shop – Ruggles- on the West side of the Plaza. No need for sheet music or sax reeds these days when kids have video games to better occupy their time and improve their minds…
Unfortunately, there was a distinct lack of marching bands. Andy’s trying to talk me into getting on the Parade Committee to rectify the situation.