photo by me

With all of the recent dryness and fires, fireworks were cancelled in Flagstaff this year. It’s not the first time this has happened and it probably won’t be the last but it does seem to take away from that feeling of celebration – at least in the evenings.

Flagstaff has a wonderful tradition of a 4th of July parade. Each year it is very different. We can always count on the muscle cars and the marching corgis but what comes in-between those entries are a delight.

If you just sat on the corner of a street in downtown Flagstaff, watching a parade go by, you could imagine yourself anywhere in the country. It is lush greens and big, beautiful victorian and edwardian style houses. It is friendly smiles and “how do you do’s”. It is people stopping to let a pedestrian cross the street.

It’s apple pie.
And baseball.
And americana.

This is when Flagstaff shines and lets her voice be heard.

And with the prominent politicians who showed up (the governor and the state’s attorney general, no less), Flagstaff’s annual 4th of July parade has become a local and statewide favorite.

Cool weather, the smell of pines, happy faces and “hellos” from the participants to the crowd and back make this an event that is worthwhile.