By LINDA CHION KENNEY
linda@observernews.net
Fourth of July celebrations include a new route for a historic community parade, followed by a number of choices for waterfront, park, drone and firework celebrations throughout Tampa Bay.
Seen here are Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade organizers Betty Jo Tompkins, left, and Lisa Rodribguez, with longtime civic leader Mark Proctor, the parade’s grand marshal, with Vick Brown, of Robotic Adventures and Simulated Thrills.Caption
Larger gatherings include “Liberty by the Bay” at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa, a free event (4 to 9:30 p.m.), featuring live entertainment, food vendors, family fun and Tampa Riverwalk festivities, including the Friends of the Riverwalk Boat Parade and water ski show. The night caps off with a 250-drone light show and fireworks finale.
Along the Hillsborough River in the Heights District of Tampa, the Armature Works celebration (5 to 10 p.m.) features live music, family activities and waterfront views of fireworks at 9 p.m. Nearby, the historic American Victory Ship in downtown Tampa offers patriotic activities and another vantage point for fireworks viewing.
And in downtown St. Petersburg at the St. Pete Pier, “The Fourth: Celebrating America’s 250” (4 to 10 p.m.) features live music, food trucks, vendors, craft beer garden, Family Fun Zone, Uncle Sam’s Market and fireworks at 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, early day revelers can witness a parade founded roughly 70 years ago for the emerging Brandon, Riverview and Plant City communities. From its debut march down one lane in today’s four-lane, traffic-choked State Road 60 (also known as Brandon Boulevard), the Greater Brandon Fourth of July
Parade for decades has traveled side streets near and about the hospital, library, arts and civic association, and small business storefronts. Parade organizers report that, among other reasons, ongoing construction for the expansive water infrastructure project across eastern and southern Hillsborough County rendered a Brandon roads parade route unavailable. Instead, the Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade kicks off at 10 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds in Dover, off State Road 60, at 215 Sydney Washer Road.
This year’s route allows also for a continuation of the Hillsborough County Fair’s Fourth of July FunFest, held the past two years at the fairgrounds, which started after the parade’s post-noon ending, and featured an evening drone show. The FunFest this year, minus the drones, features free admission, free parking, bleacher seating for parade viewers and festival food, entertainment and activities.
“The FunFest ends at 6 p.m., so we are not competing with plans to attend fireworks and drone shows held elsewhere throughout Hillsborough County and Tampa Bay,” said Betty Jo Tompkins, a past Riverview Citizen of the Year, who serves in executive positions for both the Greater Hillsborough County Fair Association Board of Directors and the Greater Brandon Action Network (GBAN) board.
As the nonprofit running the parade, GBAN is an outgrowth of the Community Roundtable, founded as the Presidents Roundtable of Greater Brandon Charities, which worked with businesses and small profits to build community cohesiveness through the parade it founded and other initiatives.
“This year, the combined Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade and FunFest is designed to be family friendly,” Tompkins said. “We’re going to have live music, entertainment, a petting zoo, pony rides, arts and crafts stations, archery and more.
” Vendors will sell food and drink, including beer, while on tap as well is the Cherry Pie-Eating Contest and a Chili Cook-Off, sponsored by Brandon Roots, a a nonprofit focused on historical activities, cemetery headstone cleanings and other community projects. The agenda includes as well the Watermelon Eating
Contest, sponsored by the nonprofit Florida Conservation Coalition, founded by Tompkins, and supported by Melon 1, billed as the nation’s largest watermelon grower, packer and shipper. In view will be larger-than-life, sit-in, electronic robots presented by Vick Brown’s Robotic Adventures and Simulated Thrills.
As for the additional parade units, they include a combined marching band featuring students from Brandon and Bloomingdale high schools and from Newsome High in Lithia; the private TC Drum Line; and horses and riders from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Posse and from the On Target 4-H Equestrian Team.
The Grand Marshal is longtime civic leader Mark Proctor, joined in the parade by local and state politicians and units representing small businesses, nonprofits and youth, Veterans and religious organizations. Major parade sponsors include deeply rooted, family-owned Brandon businesses, including Odiorne Insurance Agency (with Auto Owners Insurance), Rivard Buick GMC and Bill’s Prescription Center. “With GBAN board members and parade organizers Lisa Rodriguez and Randall Munsters, we’re happy to keep the community parade tradition alive and leave time later in the day for families to continue their celebrations however they see fit, be it neighborhood barbeques, boat parades, large community festivals, drone shows or grand firework displays,” Tompkins said. “It’s especially relevant, given this is a very special Fourth of July, as it marks the United States Semiquincentennial, marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.”
For more on the parade and FunFest, call Tompkins at 813-477-8332.
