The Fourth of July for Sonomans is not just a celebration of national pride, but a yearly home-town celebration, with marching bands, water fights and classic cars. Take a look at previous years’ photos capturing the crowds, costumes, and craziness of past parades. Photo by Melania Mahoney.
Flags wave. Families walk hand-in-hand. Streets take on a new life as they bulge with spectators. The crowd continues to thicken as the parade begins.
For many locals, the Fourth of July is more than a normal holiday, it is Sonoma’s holiday.
Harkening back to a simpler time in America’s history, Sonoma’s annual Fourth of July Parade cultivates the very essence of small-town. With its classic cars, marching bands and ever-popular water fights, the parade is not only a Sonoma staple. If you ask many Sonomans, it is what makes living in Sonoma great.
“It’s like being in a Norman Rockwell painting,” said Steve Marler, Sonoma Valley Fire Rescue Division Chief.
Now, in 2007, Sonomans will once flock to the plaza for an extra special Fourth of July celebration honoring the 200th birthday one of the city’s most influential residents: General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.
Val Haraszthy, a great-great-grandson of the general, will serves as Grand Marshal.
The parade will even feature the general himself. Well, in puppet-form at least.
At the request of the Sonoma Community Center, which organizes the Fourth of July Plaza Celebration, master puppeteer Michael Nelson is in the process of constructing a larger-than-life puppet of the general that will take center stage in the parade.
“It’s only very occasionally that we make (a puppet) for someone,” said Nelson, who runs the Yountville-based Magical Moonshine Theater company with his wife Valerie.
“We do a Bear Flag show which has Mariano Vallejo in it, and since I had already made a small one, and it is his 200th birthday this year, it seemed a very logical step to get him in the parade.”
Judging by the proposed size of the puppet, Vallejo won’t just be in the parade, he’ll practically preside over it.
According to Nelson, the puppet will take six people to operate and will stand nearly 10 feet tall.
In accordance with the birthday theme, Vallejo will be holding a plate with a large piece of birthday cake on it, while two chefs walk in front holding the remainder of the cake, Nelson said.
In addition to the Vallejo-centric theme, the parade is expected to feature perennial staples such as Sonoma’s eternally dueling Hometown Band/s and numerous floats.
Parade entries will be judged by a nine-member panel and awards will be given out in different categories, said community center outreach director Terri Updegraff.
A patriotic ceremony begins at the Grinstead Memorial Amphitheater at approximately 11:45, when Grand Marshal, Val Haraszthy, a direct descendent of Vallejo, arrives. The ceremony will include patriotic music by the Home Town Band under the direction of Richard Schneider. Music will be followed by a presentation of colors, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and recognition of special guests.
Dancing to the rock and R&B groove of Sonoma’s own American Standard Band will begin at 1 p.m. on the southeast lawn, followed by Stompy Jones, a San Francisco-based sextet, renowned for its jumpin’ rhythm, wailing improvisations, hip charm and explosive stage show at 3 p.m.
Food booths for all tastes are available at the plaza with choices including hot dogs, hamburgers, turkey drumsticks, popcorn, tri tip sandwiches, nachos, tamales, snow cones, and of course apple pie and ice cream.
For the kids, there will be plenty of activities and games such as a haunted house, potato toss, climbing wall, inflatable fun house, PoPo the Clown, dunk tank and more.
Local artist Keith Wicks painted a striking image of General Vallejo that was used on this year’s posters. T-shirts with the image will be on sale at the Sonoma Community Center booth.
After a day of fun on the Plaza, Sonoma’s Fourth of July festivities will culminate at sundown (roughly 8:40 p.m.), when the Sonoma Volunteer Firefighters Association kicks off its annual fireworks display.
As it has for the past several years, the fireworks display will once again be launched from the property adjacent to Vallejo’s home, despite rising costs from the state, which now include a flat $5,000 land usage fee, Marler said.
The display, which is paid for entirely by community donations, should be just as large, if not larger than previous displays, in spite of the increased costs, Marler added.
“Everyone who has a pyrotechnics license has a signature display,” Marler said. “Our guy’s thing is just an incredible grand finale. There’s no question in the viewer’s mind when the grand finale has started.”
One note: Because of state safety regulations, Sonoma’s popular bike path and “the alameda,” the tree-lined Vallejo home driveway, will be closed from 9 p.m. until one half hour after the end of the fireworks show.
The best place to see the fireworks display is an opinion unique as each person. Some prefer the comfort of a blanket at the Field of Dreams, while others seek out the solitude of one of Sonoma’s nearby mountain tops. Either way, the display should not disappoint.
With more than 12,000 people likely to attend this year’s Fourth of July festivities in Sonoma, there are a few areas that anyone attending should put some thought into prior to leaving the house.
Remedy parking problems
For most parade attendees, the first challenge of the day will be finding a parking spot within walking distance to the plaza.
While this sounds easy, as any regular attendee knows, it can pose quite the challenge when you’re running 10 minutes late.
Parking spots on Broadway and surrounding streets tend to fill up rapidly.
For those that might have issues walking for extended periods of time, parking and shuttle service will be available from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. at Safeway with return service available after the parade.
Service is limited, so anyone wishing to take the shuttle should call 996.0311 for more information.
If walking isn’t an issue, parking at the Sebastiani Winery and surrounding side streets provides easy access to the plaza via the bike path.
Get up front and center
Once visitors arrive to the plaza, the next challenge should be immediately apparent as spectators jockey for position.
Many viewers arrive in the wee hours of the morning to set up chairs and stake a claim amongst the day’s most coveted real estate.
Arriving early will increase your chances of getting a front-row seat, but in the event you can’t send your husband down at 5 a.m. to setup seats, good spots can still be had on First Street West and First Street East, even after the parade begins.
Although the view might be somewhat obscured, standing in the park itself or resting in the shade of a tree is also a good option, especially considering early forecasts have July 4 temperatures in the low to mid 90s.
For those who want to ensure they are definitely not stuck in the hot sun, the Vintage House and Sonoma Kiwanis Club are offering 150 shade-only seats underneath canopies next to the parade grandstand.
Seat reservations are required and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information call 996.0311.
