BRATTLEBORO-The 52nd annual "By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth" Independence Day celebration is set for Friday, July 4, with a morning parade downtown and an afternoon and evening program of family activities and fireworks at Living Memorial Park.
Marching units - including the local American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School bands and veterans, civic, and youth groups - will kick off the festivities at 10 a.m. with a parade from Flat Street to Main Street to the town Common. (The shorter length comes in response to requests from older marchers and challenges finding enough volunteers and public safety patrols to monitor a longer distance.)
Brattleboro's Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which is sponsoring the parade, will lead the march with its giant American flag, while local personality Alfred Hughes Jr. will conclude the event by debuting his annual top-secret ensemble.
Anyone seeking to decorate a bicycle for inclusion can do so July 4 at 9 a.m. at the Whetstone pathway beside the Brattleboro Food Co-op.
The parade route also will host athletes in the Red Clover Rovers Firecracker 4-Miler, set to run from Living Memorial Park at 9:15 a.m. through downtown to the Common.
After the parade, the town Recreation & Parks Department will offer a series of public concerts, sporting events, and family activities at Living Memorial Park - just off Western Avenue and Interstate 91 Exit 2 - from 2:30 p.m. to the start of fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
Highlights include a Small Fry baseball All-Star Game at 2:30 p.m., a New England Center for Circus Arts performance at 5:45 p.m., and a Gaslight Tinkers band performance from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
All programs are free thanks to citizen, civic, and corporate donations.
People seeking to support the event can mail donations to "Brattleboro Goes Fourth," P.O. Box 1112, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
More information, including weather updates, is available on the Brattleboro Goes Fourth Facebook page, facebook.com/BrattleboroGoesFourth.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.