 |
| First OPA Main Street Parade July 4 2007 photo credit Susan Cloke |
SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist, Santa Monica Mirror
“Main Street meets Doo Dah,” described Lori Nafshun, the Ocean Park
Association (OPA) force behind the Main Street 4th of July
Parade. “It’s a parade for
everyone, for our political leaders and for the fun loving and the wacky. It’s very Santa Monica and it’s
special.”
The theme of this year’s parade is HEROES. ”We honor the heroes who were the founders of the United States
and express our patriotism and our allegiance to the principles of our
democracy. We also honor our own
local heroes. And everyone has
their own personal hero,” said Nafshun.
“Heroes come in many shapes and sizes. OPA invites everyone to come to the parade and let us know
who your hero is.”
The Grand Marshall and Santa Monica Hero is Chief Jacqueline
Seabrooks. Embracing the theme of
the Parade she stated, “Just as those who fought for this country's
independence were the heroes of their time, those who fight for the safety of
our community on a daily basis are today's heroes. I am fiercely proud to
represent today's heroes, the men and women of the Santa Monica Police
Department. I am privileged to be able to celebrate our heroes past and
present not only as our parade's Grand Marshal but also as this community's
Police Chief and I'm loving it."
Along with Chief Seabrooks, the Santa Monica Girl Scout Color Guard
will be in the lead. Local
dignitaries including City Council Members O’Connor, Day, Gleam, Holbrook,
McKeown, Vasquez and Winterer, former Santa Monica Mayors and Assemblyman Bloom
will all participate.
Keeping the faith with sustainability all dignitaries will ride in
electric cars. Vintage cars are the exception to the green rule. And the low riders will be back again
this year!
Parade music will be as eclectic as Santa Monica and will feature
everything from the SAMOHI Marching Band, The Mariachi Conservatory, the SantaMonica Youth Symphony, the Americans, the FU Dogs and more.
Bike groups Bike Attack and the Freedom Riders and lots of
neighborhood kids on decorated bikes will be in the parade. As Nafshun says, “cyclists are heroes
too – showing us how to change our ideas about transportation.”
What’s a parade without music and school kids, local dignitaries and
local groups and horses! The Santa
Monica Mounted Police and a public group called the Santa Monica Mounted Posse
will be showing off their beautiful horses and their horsemanship.
Local groups the Running of the Grunion and the Euclideans as well
as local schools SMASH, the Edison Language Academy the Growing Place and Mount
Olive PreSchool will all be strutting their stuff.
And lots more. To
register to march in the parade go to www.opa-sm.org/parade by July 1,
2013. Registration is free. Nafshun encourages everyone to follow
the green theme and bring your own multi-use water bottle.
Santa Monica resident and former OPA president, Joel Brand remembers
the beginnings of the Main Street 4th of July Parade. “The parade
was started in 2007 by a handful of people at OPA but it was really Lori who
had the vision and the tenacity to make it happen. Santa Monica didn’t have a 4th of July parade. It didn’t have a community celebration
on the 4th. OPA
believed Santa Monica would be a better place with a small town Independence
Day parade where everyone could participate. We have a fantastic community here in Santa Monica and we
can’t do enough of these community events that help to bind us together.
“It took a lot of conversation and cooperation between OPA and the
City Staff and the Council for everyone to understand why it was so important
to Santa Monicans and to the City to have the parade. The late Council Member Ken Genser was especially supportive
and helpful,” said Brand.
“It is people like Lori that make our City a great City. She does this work because she loves
Santa Monica and this parade is truly Santa Monica.”
Another former OPA President, Council Member Ted Winterer said “When
Lori suggested the idea for the 4th of July parade we all thought
she was nuts. It seemed such an enormous undertaking. Finally OPA decided we had to go for it. After endless meetings and overcoming
obstacle after obstacle we knew we were going to be able to pull it off but it
wasn’t until the finish of the first parade when we realized it had succeeded
beyond our expectations that it was easy to look at doing it again and
again. We were elated.”
The OPA Main Street 4th of July Parade has, in seven
short years, become a beloved institution in Santa Monica. This Independence Day Parade is one
with parades in cities across the United States in lauding and honoring the
heroes of our nation’s founding.
We are particularly Santa Monica when we laud and honor our own local
heroes.
So we appreciate this time of joining together in expressing our
patriotism and our gratitude for the freedoms of our country. We thank OPA and all the volunteers and
sponsors and supporters of the parade.
In our daily safety and in our sorrow at the recent tragedy at SMC we
are grateful for our Chief of Police Jacqueline Seabrooks, the Grand Marshall
of the Parade.
We especially thank all the Santa Monicans who make Santa Monica a
great place to call home.
And we thank our Hometown Hero Lori Nafshun for her vision, her
tenacity and her commitment to building community in Santa Monica.
Happy 4th of July to all! See you at the Parade!
