Recollections of the fourth of July

The Fourth of July in Catonsville, the town where I grew up, was always a big deal. There would be activities at the Senior High School (in the days when we called them that). The parade was always at 3pm. Other towns would stagger their parade start times so some of the participants would be able to attend more than one parade.

Each year local politicians, particularly the State Comptroller of the Treasury, Louis Goldstein, was there to "press the flesh" as much as possible. Mr. Goldstein was well respected and held that elected post from 1959 - 1998 when he died at the age of 85. His career with the State of Maryland spanned sixty years. I remember Senator Paul Sarbanes, until recently a US Senator from Maryland, attending that parade every year and the same with current Senator Barbara Mikulski. They just didn't miss it.

Local bands would strut their stuff, the Jazzercise women in pink outfits and spotless white tennis shoes would dance their way down the street. The Scouts would always join in the fun – the parade, not the dancing.

For years after the Colts left Baltimore, the Colts Band still performed and would participate. We also started having a huge band from Canada attend many years. There were several hundred members and they always sounded great. They were likely combining this with a trip to Washington, DC each year.

The Boumi Temple motorcycle group would ride their Harleys and the clown group always entertained the crowd.

The fire department and police department would always have their contingents and pump up the sirens. We would scream for more.

There would be floats by the local civic groups and some of the church groups that would loosely tie to the theme of the celebration that year. Quite often, the themes seemed to be as generic as the floats.

Kids on decorated bikes were always part of the parade, a contest having been held earlier in the day.

The various veterans groups would march and the crowd would cheer and honor their service appropriately. One of the men from my church was part of the color guard for his veterans group. You could see the pride in Herman's face to be marching in the parade.

Of course, there had to be the convertibles with tops down and people sitting in the back or on the back seat. This is when these were HUGE cars. They seemed to go for blocks. They probably were for the parade Grand Marshal and the Catonsville Celebrations Committee. The Grand Marshall always seemed to be someone I had never heard of.

In a current side note, the Towson (county seat of Baltimore County) parade has as its Grand Marshals this year Chef Duff and the entire Charm City Cakes staff. For you Food Network junkies (like me), this is the group from Ace of Cakes. Towson takes there parade pretty seriously also.

The end of the parade was always the "commercial" group. Usually, it was only "Carter's Upholstery". They drove their white van with their ad on the side, but sitting on top the van was "the chair". It was pretty awful. It was a kitchen chair that was upholstered in red, white and blue. There was a ruffle on the bottom of the seat. As the years went on, the van and chair still were the last entry in the parade.

And then it happened. The van was there, but no chair. Everyone was yelling. "Where's the chair". It was back the next year.

During the parade, volunteers would be passing buckets to collect money for the fireworks. As a child, we thought that meant the fireworks might not happen that night if they didn't collect enough.

The fireworks were always described as a "Mammoth Fireworks Display". To avoid the huge crowds at the High School, our family would go to the church grounds down the street. We could see the aerial display and avoid all the traffic and crowds. We were allowed to stand very still and enjoy sparklers. They always looked like miniature fireworks to us.

Those are my recollections of the 4th as a child. As the years have progressed, I don't know if the parade has changed all that much. I can tell you it is more popular than ever. So much so, that people now start saving viewing positions days in advance. They will place chairs on the side of the street as early as the beginning of the week. They will also lay out tarps on the high school grounds to claim space for the finale of the big day.


This parade also takes place down Frederick Road, the main street of the town. I'm surprised this doesn't cause more issues. Jim took a few pictures and they appear here. The sign that Jim has shown must be a singularly unique sign. Doesn’t it make you want to set up a chair in the middle of the road to watch the parade?

The parade also passes directly in front of the library where judging takes place. In a spectacular case of poor planning, a pedestrian island was built in the middle of the street this past year. Hmmmm...how will the floats get past or over this?




During my last few years living in Baltimore, I lived on the grounds of the church. My good friends, the Heasleys also lived on the property in the Parsonage. The youth group would create floats for the parade. Crepe paper in July heat in Baltimore does not hold up well.

One year we had a crab feast at the Carriage House where. I lived. The Heasleys had never really picked crabs before, but they took to it pretty well. Get a bushel of steamed crabs, cover the table with brown paper and go to it. Nothing tastes sweeter than crabs steamed in Old Bay seasoning. We'd walk down to the High School, enjoy the fireworks and walk back home.

On a few occasions, we went to the Mall in DC to enjoy the fireworks and National Symphony in person. Hot sticky, horrible Metro crowds to deal with to get home, but well worth it.

I'd also enjoyed the fireworks at the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. After I moved to Jacksonville, Rick and I would usually just enjoy "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS and the Macy's presentation. Turn on the surround sound and you feel like you are there. On at least one occasion, we were in Washington, D.C. on the 4th. We had access to the rooftop of an office building and were able to enjoy them from there.

Once we were in Old Lyme over the 4th for an Overton/Camp family reunion of sorts. We were able to view fireworks from several towns throughout the evening across the Connecticut River but they were far enough away we could not hear them. One of these towns was Old Saybrook, the home of one of my favorite actresses, Katherine Hepburn. On at least three occasions, we were in New York City on the 4th. Once, our hotel room at the Marriott Marquis in Time Square had a direct view to the Statue of Liberty. We were able to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our room.

Another time, we went with Roger and Jennifer Overton (Rick's brother and sister-in-law) over to Brooklyn Heights to watch the Macy's fireworks over the East River reflected in the New York skyline. It was boiling hot, but the view was amazing.

The last time, we had just returned from a trip to Connecticut and were about to check into a Marriott on West 54th. I dropped Rick off with the luggage, dropped the car off across the street at Avis, walked back to where Rick was waiting. I had only been gone five minutes. Rick said "guess who was in the car behind you?" Of course, I had no clue who it would have been. It turns out Dolly Parton and her band had perfomed that evening at the fireworks, had completed the show, and were staying in our hotel.

I know this has been an unusually long entry. I just love the 4th and have celebrated it in so many different ways.

A safe and happy 4th to all of you.