Village 4th: Here Comes the Parade

It’s that time of year, when the sun finally breaks through the endless May-vember and the June Gloom. When American flags start unfurling, and people plan on getting together with family and friends to celebrate.

Yes, it’s July 4th! 

Because of the State Street promenade and other headaches, Santa Barbara will not be having a July 4th parade this year. But Montecito will, and it’s going to be terrific. We will roll through Montecito in a cavalcade of exciting vintage autos, schools, kids, community organizations, patriotic groups, and more. Entries have already started pouring in, and the line-up is getting impressive. We’ve heard Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse wants to be in our parade! 

This year, someone new is coming into the parade, and we’re excited! The Miramar called and said they’d love to be in and enter their Jollies. 

They’re going to fit right in, clearly, especially if they bring that cute Frenchy. This is part of a growing relationship between the Miramar and the Montecito community, and we sure like the direction it’s going. We support bringing back the swim platform, now laboring arduously through a myriad of County and coastal commission permitting processes. They’ve hosted some community meetings and meet-and-greets, and they’re going to do another one shortly. We love that they wanted to be in the parade, and welcome them in.

Your July 4th Parade Committee has been busily planning the parade and after-party. This year’s Grand Marshal, Mindy Denson, is right in the middle in the red jacket.

The July 4th Parade Committee

Firefighter Justin Pickens – MFPD
Trish Davis – Montecito Association
Firefighter / Paramedic Andy Rupp – MFPD
Nina Terzian 
Firefighter / Paramedic Trevor Burch – MFPD
Jacqueline Duran 
Firefighter Evan Hamaker – MFPD
Dana Hansen – Montecito Association
Firefighter / Paramedic Dustin Barthel
Mindy Denson – Montecito Association Board, Events Chair, and Grand Marshal
Firefighter Steve Cochran
Sharon Byrne – Montecito Association Executive Director
Dana Newquist – Parade Line-Up Master
Battalion Chief Ben Hauser – MFPD
Lt. Butch Arnoldi – Office of the Sheriff
Conner Rehage 

Not shown: Montecito Association Board Member Andrea Newquist, Mike Edwards, and Patty Zuckerman.

It must be said that we could not do this without our public safety partners. They keep everyone safe along the route, so we owe a huge thank you to MFPD, the Sheriffs, and CHP.

We’re going to depart at 11:30 am from Manning Park. We’ll head down San Ysidro and take a right on North Jameson. We’ll go through Coast Village Road and up Hot Springs to Casa Dorinda. Then we’ll take a right on East Valley and the route ends at the San Ysidro intersection with East Valley. 

Here’s what you should do:

Enter the Parade! 

We still have a few slots available. If you’d like to enter, please go to www.montecitoassociation.org.

Pick a spot on the route to watch. Best spots: 

1. MUS and Manning Park area. Plenty of room to gather and send off the parade.

2. All along the trail on San Ysidro to North Jameson.

3. San Leandro and San Ysidro. We usually see large crowds of neighbors there. 

4. Anywhere on the trail on North Jameson between San Ysidro and Coast Village.

5. All along Coast Village Road, especially the north side and in the median. 

6. In front of Casa Dorinda.

7. In front of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

8. On the sidewalk in front of El Montecito Church, the Montecito Association office, the Hardware store, and gas station.

Get your 4th finery and flags ready. 

Noisemakers too. We like excitement! We love to honk and wave and yell “Happy 4th!” We love to see you in your red, white, and blue finery and hear you shout “Happy 4th!”
right back!

Put out lawn or deck chairs along the route and make yourself comfortable. 

We go at a slow pace, so you won’t miss anything.

Sponsor the parade. 

It takes a Village to pull this off, and we do have expenses from the parade we must cover. All sponsors of the parade are invited to the after-party, along with parade entrants. If you’d like to sponsor the parade, please go to www.montecitoassociation.org or call us at (805) 969-2026.

We’re excited to see you on July 4th!