Independence Day parade soars through downtown

Downtown Juneau’s Fourth of July parade, consisting of a total of 48 entries, brought patriotic festivity to Egan Drive.

Live music played from the back of The Royal Wedding Band’s float, a local musical group that partnered with the University of Alaska Southeast.

“It has become my favorite gig of the year because you get to see all of your community in a two-hour span,” Taylor Vidic, lead singer of the band, said.

This year’s parade theme was “Juneau’s Winged Heroes,” celebrating aviation. First place for Best Use of Theme went to Juneau Urgent and Family Care.

TIDES LLC celebrated the beginning of Disability Pride Month, in addition to Independence Day. TIDES LLC. provides services to people who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“We are here to just celebrate our neighbors and our communities who experience disabilities and to get all dressed up in the process,” said Nikki Bass, founder and owner of TIDES. Bass was hard to miss on the parade route, wearing a rainbow onesie and long colorful feather earrings.

“We’re just highlighting how important it is to celebrate our diversity,” she said.

The Resistors and Juneau Democracy Now organized a collective of pro-democracy Juneau groups, who marched behind a banner that read “We the People, protecting our democracy.”

“People just got together and then decided that we wanted to be joyful because this is a family parade,” Claire Richardson, organizer of the pro-democracy submission, said.

In the front of this group walked a 9-foot Statue of Liberty puppet.

Laura Lucas and Sue Ann Randall constructed the puppet in a month using papier-mâché, a backpack, and shower curtains.

“It’s just what she represents,” Lucas said about her inspiration for the puppet. “Freedom.”

Walkers and dancers followed the puppet. Some wore the green crown of the Statue of Liberty, while others dressed in brightly colored, whimsical outfits. More than 20 people in this group performed a continuous synchronized dance to John Baptiste’s song “Freedom” as they marched.

Affordable Auto Sales also undertook a creative challenge. Their float was a one-to-one replica of a Maisto remote-control car box with a real car inside. It took a year and a half to build.

“We wanted to do something very special that would appeal to kids and adults equally,” said Lonnie Khmelev, the founder of Affordable Auto Sales. “I just decided to build a box that has never been built before.”

The float is celebrating Affordable Auto Sales’ 25th year in Juneau and won first place for Best Commercial float.

“If this becomes a success, every year we are going to put a different car in there,” Khmelev said.

The Alaska Airlines float also featured transportation grandeur. The large Alaska Airlines plane was made for this parade, but the Alaska Airlines parade group predicts they will save it for another year.

The Maisto car box and Alaska Airlines airplane are joining treasured, familiar parade floats.

The Alaska Marine Highway System ferry float has transited the downtown Juneau Fourth of July parade for eight years.

“We thought it would be a great way to raise the ferry system to the light since it has had so many cuts recently, and it is just a whole lot of fun to see the support that we get for the ferry system,” Shannon Adamson said.

The ferry float, submitted by the Juneau Central Labour Council, won first place for the “Most Alaskan” category. The float represents the ferry system workers rather than AMHS, according to Marine Highway employee Nick Adamson.

The Pottery Jungle won first place for Best Decorated Vehicle. The float featured potters creating dishes on pottery wheels while the jungle-themed float moved down Egan Drive.

The Best of Parade award went to Juneau Ati-Atihan. The performers filled the street with the bright costumes and rhythmic drumming of the Filipino Ati-Atihan festival. Ati-Atihan has been performing in the parade since 1993.

Litter Free Inc. partnered with Alaska Waste to pick up candy wrappers and other trash.

“The hard part was prying the taffy off the asphalt,” said John Hudson, Litter Free Inc. board member.

At the end of the parade route at 8th Street and Egan Drive, crowd-clad participants from the pro-democracy group danced to The Royal Wedding Band’s final pop song cover. Parade participants dismantled their floats, and balloons were compacted by the dump truck. JAMHI Health & Wellness, Inc. float participant Brandon Hauser reflected on this year’s parade.

“The floats that I appreciate the most aren’t necessarily for the floats themselves, but for the services that those individuals provide,” Hauser said.

• Contact Natalie Buttner at natalie.buttner@juneauempire.com.