Time to get your lawn chairs and American flags ready because the Marple Newtown 4th of July Parade will be here before we know it! Celebrating the birth of our nation is one of America’s favorite holidays filled with traditional family picnics, barbecues and fireworks. Here in Marple Newtown, a Fourth of July cel-ebration would not be complete without our annual parade of fantastic bands, decorated floats, first responders and much more. It’s the perfect way to celebrate our Country and our Freedom!
The fun will begin on Tuesday, July 4th at St. Albans Circle, and continue eastbound on West Chester Pike to the Broomall Fire Company’s facility on Malin Rd. A rain date is scheduled for Saturday, July 8th. For individuals sensitive to loud sounds, there will be a quiet zone, where sirens and blowing air horns are prohibited, that will stretch a short distance along West Chester Pike from Evergreen Ave to Ann Rd in Broomall. “We want as many people as possible to enjoy the parade,” said Jan Ceton, Chairman of the Parade committee.
Spectators this year will be entertained by marching bands such as Mersey-British Rock Invasion, the Eagles Pep Band and the Marching Cobras. Our local marching bands, fire companies and first responders will join in the fun. Local businesses, community clubs and neighborhood residents will impress you with their decorated floats, marching groups and costumed individuals. But the little ones often steal the show with their creative and festive decorated strollers, wagons, hand-drawn floats and bikes. The parade ends with an awards ceremony, where medals and trophies are given to the top three entries in each division, and their names and photos are featured in the following year’s commemorative book.
What started as a way to unite the communities during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a fun tradition for residents and businesses to show off their patriotic spirit. They launched a Red, White and YOU! decorating contest for area residents and businesses. The turnout was overwhelming and a caravan of judges toured the area awarding prizes such as “Best Window,” “Most Patriotic” and “Most Spectacular.”
Merrie Staurowsky, Parade Committee Vice Chair, announced, “We have been thrilled with the amazing support and feedback from our Red, White and YOU! decorating contest and cannot wait to see this year’s entries.” The deadline to register for the decorating contest is June 29th with judging starting on June 30th. Merrie said, “We encourage all residents and businesses to join the fun and decorate. We award displays big and small and even have a ‘14 and under’ category.”
To offset the cost of the parade, the committee relies on donations from the bucket brigade as well as fundraisers and t-shirt sales throughout the year. “It’s because of the generosity of Marple Newtown residents, sponsors and grants that we are able to provide the community with a spectacular parade,” said Jan. The committee was especially grateful to Thunderbird Pizza, who held an “Eat Pizza to Support the 4th Pizza Fundraiser” this past April.
Not only was it a fun evening and a great opportunity to sell this year’s custom parade t-shirts, but Thunderbird Pizza also generously donated proceeds from the pizza sales to the 2023 parade.
Another source of funding is the commemorative booklet that is distributed to over 4,000 residents and businesses. Long-time Broomall resident and committee member Leigh Ann Coary heads up the advertising initiative. “This fabulous parade is funded entirely by the families and businesses in our community,” Leigh Ann explained. “Local businesses, civic organizations, clubs and individuals have the opportunity to place an ad to show their community support.” The deadline to reserve your advertisement space is May 30th and those interested can download the necessary forms from the parade website.
“Marple Newtown is able to continue this tradition year after year thanks to these individuals and businesses,” said Leigh Ann. “As new and younger families move to Broomall and Newtown Square, I’m proud that the parade is such a big part of this community and will continue for years to come!”
For more info. visit www.MarpleNewtownParade.com and like their Facebook page.
