“Morning,” says a California Highway Patrol officer, blocking Highway 9 traffic at the entrance to Boulder Creek, to passersby, just minutes before the Fourth of July festivities were set to begin.
As the Boulder Creek Community Church band plays “What I Like About You” by the Romantics, a young climber in a Spiderman suit dangles from an upright tree trunk strapped to a flatbed.
“Parade ready?” say his float-mates.
“Parade ready!” he replies.
These were just a handful of the hundreds of community group members who joined parades in Scotts Valley and Boulder Creek to ring in America’s 249th birthday.
And while there were hints of political, economic and technological upheaval around the margins, the overall atmosphere was one of joyous Americana.
Diana Morales Rojas said she was thankful to get to be part of it.
While she moved to the area from Costa Rica three years ago, this was her first time experiencing (not to mention marching in) the Boulder Creek parade.
“It’s very similar in my country,” she said. “It’s great.”
Matt Grocott, 66, arrived at 9:30am, with his little dog Louis (pronounced “Louie”).
“I had a good spot,” he said. “Someone stood in front of me. So, I just moved.”
He wanted to make sure his dog had some shade.
“It’s going well,” he said of the parade. “A few small gaps here and there.”
Grocott said he enjoyed seeing the firefighters go by, though it frightened his dog.
“I like what’s going on in America right now,” he said. “This is the ultimate ‘No King’ event.”
He was putting a positive spin on the “No Kings” signs you could see here and there throughout the crowd, carried by people protesting what they see as President Donald Trump overreaching his executive authority.
Emmanuel Altamirano, a Boulder Creek resident, said he was a fan of the musical aspect of the parade.
“This one’s cool,” he said. “It’s good to see the community out.”
Another Boulder Creek resident, Klay Bendle, 50, said he loved “the family, the friends, the camaraderie” of the celebration.
“It was long this year—an hour,” he said. “People who live in big cities, they don’t get a little piece of Americana like this.”
Over at the Boulder Creek fire hall, country music blared as firefighters flipped pancakes.
Local Gibson Sanchez, 35, was there with his mom Kimberly Farr, 60.
“I love it,” he said. “This is our second year that we’ve come to this. I think a lot of people do want to come out and spend time with the community.”
Farr agreed. She said it was cool to watch how the firefighters act like a family.
“It’s always a good time,” she said, admitting they’d just missed the parade. “We look forward to coming, at least to the breakfast.”
Chief Mark Bingham said they started setting up two days earlier.
“Today we have roughly 35 people here of our 45,” he said, noting they also allowed Felton’s volunteer fire service to use the event as a recruitment platform. “We wanted to reach out and support them.”
Bingham looked out over a sea of happy people, as supplies were replenished by his team.
“We served over 3,000 plates of food,” he said.
Another addition this year—the San Lorenzo Valley startup Ember Flash, who were demonstrating their novel smoke-detection invention, which the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District is helping to beta test.
“I give them feedback,” Bingham said. “They looped me in early on.”
Zach Ackerman, a Felton resident who works in business operations for the company, said they’re even building a drone to help fight fires.
“We all had families and friends who had their houses burn,” he said, referring to the CZU Lightning Complex Fire of 2020, and their motivation to find a high-tech solution to the fire prevention issue.
Scotts Valley Festivities
Scotts Valley’s parade started with an airplane flyover.
“It kind of just sets the tone,” said Marti Meyer, a Scotts Valley resident. “It’s awesome.”
She was hanging out with loved ones as the Anthony Arya Band rocked out at a stage by the Boys and Girls Club.
It was so hot out, people had mostly retreated to shaded areas.
“This is the premier event of the year in Scotts Valley,” Meyer said.
Maria Aguirre, her older sister who lives in Santa Cruz, said there were a lot of cool cars on display.
“I come every year with my sister,” she said.
Kika Lopez, a friend who also lives in Santa Cruz, said she was a little concerned for the safety of all the kids dashing into the street after candy.
“It was good,” she said of the parade. “But, I’m going to be forward. One of the cops wasn’t really doing his job, because kids were just running out.”
B.J. Nadeau, a 90-year-old Scotts Valley resident, spoke to the newspaper after a long chat with the folks at the Scotts Valley Parks and Recreation Division.
She was focused on promoting upcoming jazz events, such as an Aug. 1 show at the library branch downtown Santa Cruz.
“They are really fabulous players,” she said, adding the events happen from noon-1pm on the first Friday of every month there.
