Among the highlights: the parade is led by kids and features flags from all 50 states and many countries and lemonade is generously served, compliments of Watts Grocery.
The parade will start at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Club Boulevard and Oakland Avenue (see map below) and will last for approximately an hour and a half. The route will take the revelers and the onlookers from the Center of Club toward Oval Park on Alabama and Woodrow streets
To learn more about the history of this wonderful neighborhood tradition and much more background, read on after the break.
Watts-Hillandale July 4 Parade - A Long Tradition -
Everyone is Welcome
On
Wednesday, July 4, the Watts Hospital-Hillandale Neighborhood Association will
host the neighborhood’s 63rd annual Independence Day parade. It is the neighborhood’s great
convocation and Durham’s longest running Fourth of July celebration. The event which today attracts hundreds
of people from all over the city and the world, began as a simple diversion for
a handful of hot, sweaty kids.
Over the decades, the essential elements of the event have remained
unchanged, but as the years have passed, the celebration has grown and with it
the traditions have evolved and become richer.
The Essentials
From
that July morning in 1950 when Alice and Tom Walker coaxed half a dozen
neighborhood kids to march down the Club Boulevard sidewalk the first time,
certain things became immutable elements of a Watts-Hillandale Fourth. First, the parade must be led by kids
with flags. Today it's as true as
it was then and we’re lucky because the Walkers have donated those original
flags to the neighborhood and they’re still out front, just like they always
were. Look for the original
48-star, 49-star and 50-star U.S. flags that Alice and Tom provided for the
parade in its earliest years.
Second, kids decorate their bikes, trikes, and wagons with red, white,
and blue to carry them around the parade route in patriotic style. Then there must always be the
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and patriotic songs. These things abide today little changed
from that first parade so many years ago.
Last, there’s got to be a cold drink. It’s Durham in July.
It’s hot and a cold drink refreshes now just like it did in the
un-airconditioned summer of 1950.
From these essentials the neighborhood has expanded, added, and enriched
this great tradition.
More Flags
As
more kids, parents and adults joined the event, Tom Walker urged the newcomers
to bring the flags of their home states and countries to illustrate the melting
pot that is not only our country, but our neighborhood. This tradition grew with the event
until the 1980s, when neighbors began to get up early to festoon the Oval Park
with flags. Every year, more flags
have been added until it hard to get them all up before its time for the parade. Even though there are now literally
hundreds, we still add more. It’s a game each year to try to spot the new ones.
A New Route
At
first, the kids marched along the sidewalk on Club, but before too many years
passed, the sidewalk just couldn’t hold the crowd. Tom Walker talked the police into closing the street for the
parade and providing an escort for the marchers. The kids loved the thrill of marching down the middle of the
wide boulevard which was usually off-limits. The Walkers had one rule: the parade was for
pedestrians. No cars, go carts, or
minibikes were allowed. Only the
policeman could ride his motorcycle up at the front. In time, however, the Fire Department wanted into the act
and the neighborhood was delighted to let them bring a shiny pumper truck to
join the motorcycle at the head of the march. Eventually, there were so many marchers that the parade
route simply wasn’t long enough to accommodate them all. Tom and his new helper, Phil Lehman,
organized a new route which still took everyone down the center of Club, but
then turned them back to Oval Park on Alabama and Woodrow. This has been the unaltered parade
route since the 1970s.
Mr. Holmes’s Ideal Sundry Lemonade
In
the early years, the Walkers and the other parents bought bottled soft drinks
for the marchers. This was back in
the day when there were literally dozens of different flavored soft drinks. You remember, there were Nehi, Trueade,
Royal Crown, Cheerwine, Sundrop, and a bunch of others, in addition to Cokes
and Pepsis. The parents traded off
who would be responsible for the drinks each year and if it was your turn, you
had to ice the bottles down the night before so they would be ready the next
day. When the number
of participants grew from twenty to over a hundred, this system became
impractical. At this point the
folks at the Coca Cola plant on Hillsborough road stepped in and supplied cold
cokes for a few years. Soon,
however, the event outgrew even this supply system. Then, in the late 1980s, the neighborhood association
approached Bill Holmes about supplying his famous, secret-recipe lemonade for
the event. Bill was a neighbor who
for many years ran the Ideal Sundry on Hillsborough Road. Although he had retired form the sundry
business, he had not retired his lemonade. It seemed like a natural fit and Bill’s lovely, slushy
lemonade became an essential part of a real Watts-Hillandale Fourth of July. When Bill could no longer supply his
Ideal Sundry concoction, Amy Tornquist of the celebrated Watts Grocery on Broad
Street saved the day. For the last
few years, Amy has supplied not only lemonade but hundreds of her famous
to-die-for cupcakes. The tradition
is sustained, but evolves.
New Additions to Ancient Traditions
In
more recent years, our wonderful neighborhood event has been enhanced by newer
traditions. While we still sing
patriotic songs, we are blessed to be led by neighbor Dave Dodson and his
choral group, “The OK Chorale.”
Their version of the “Star Spangled Banner, sung from atop an Oval Park
picnic table, is a show stopper.
And now, when the parade is over, kids in the neighborhood beg the guys
on the fire truck to provide a giant spray of water to run through and frolic
in.
The
Watts-Hillandale July 4 Parade has imprinted itself on the hearts of hundreds
of current and former residents of the neighborhood and of Durham. It is not unusual to see families
represented by four generations of participants. There are grown children who do not come home for Christmas
who would not think of missing the Fourth of July in Oval Park.
So
come, be a part of this glorious tradition. What began with 6 kids over 60 years ago is now an event involving hundreds and
hundreds. Everyone is invited and
everyone is welcome. This is real
patriotism - the quiet kind, the modest kind with the open hand. Built on community, it is fun and thoughtful.
The
parade starts at 10:00 a.m. sharp at the intersection of Club Boulevard and
Oakland Avenue. Flag hanging in
the adjacent park starts at 8:30 a.m.
Decorate your bikes and trikes, your wagons and strollers. Bring your flags. Wear red, white and blue or, even
better, that old Watts-Hillandale t-shirt. If you don’t have one, bring a few bucks and buy a new one. They will be on sale. Invite your friends from around town and
from around the world.
The Neighborhood
Watts
Hospital-Hillandale is a Durham, North Carolina, neighborhood developed in the
years immediately following the First World War. Its streets are named after states and heroes like Woodrow
Wilson and General John "Black Jack" Pershing. The modest bungalows that line them are
occupied by every sort of citizen form every profession and walk of life. They are bound together by a strong
sense of community and stewardship.
The neighborhood's traditions, like its July 4 parade, are older than
most of the neighbors. The Watts Hospital-Hillandale Neighborhood Association
is a voluntary, non-profit corporation organized in 1984.
Contact
For
more information about the Watts Hospital-Hillandale July 4 parade and
celebration, please contact event coordinator, Tom Miller. Tom can be reached at tom-miller1@nc.rr.com, or (919)
599-7618.
"This flag, which we honor and under which we
serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a
nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to
generation. The choices are ours."
Woodrow Wilson
No comments:
Post a Comment