Page 1 - danhon_parade1988

Page 4 The Signal/Fourth of July July 1,1988

········[the Spirit of Fourths Past

By Daniel Hon lndMduals ,.-ho arc copable of dQJ,.
,hi,.ss, who ho1-e the rcqulsile Into lna-
A kaleido cope of pancake , 1/0,. and tlll,V', Is a rdaJi1'ely small
bnrb ucd bcel. balloons, qheens, 01'e. The,., ff you subtract from this
carnival , dances, fireworks, flags, mlriori1y the a,mpetcnt f,.dMduals ,.,ho
floats, parades, shootouts high stakes simply will 1'01 perform wlrtJt the)'
poker games, low stake bingo, greased promise, you get dow,. 10 a small lsard
pigs and pol s, speech • rodeos COilon Cl)rt of v."Orurs who bo1h CAN and
candy watermelon . trafficheat wind, IV/LL
and crowds upon crowdsor people have
painted the environs or downtown The editorial w written in
Newhallsincethe first officiallyspon- S)mp:ithy for Ted Lnmkin who the
sored Fourth or July Parade w held in president r the Old w 1 on
1932: the epitome of smalltown Ameri- and wbo ran th:11 > ' p.1(1lde with
ca in the Santa Clarita Valley. pnx:ious liitl h p. Not only 1h31, but
this was the YC3I thllt "littl Tommy
TI1e idcn or the celebration was born Frew came a giAnl firecr:1cta" .ind
during IJ1c depths of lhe dcprc: ion had IO be CJttric;ilcd from 11· 00.'>t~
when people hen:. 3S in the rest or 1he He damned nc:ir suffoc:ucd in lhc 105
country, had no money to use frivolou •· degree heat.!
ly. The town rather.; wanted 10 si,•e the
community a day 10 cclebr.11c wilhout ir. Trueblood Sr. lcnew wbcieor be
the need 10 pend a lot .. They succcc.dcd spoke. He ran the 31bir in 1939 30d
beyond their wildest dreams. l~O and 3g3in in 1952. Even today,
burnout is 3 problem. Organizalioos
It has been vanously called The Bees such 3.! the Jaycees, ROUl.ry. Optim:sts.
Peerade, Placeritos Days, Old West Lions, K 1 ,r.mis and the ov·er.111 sponsor.
Celebration and, simply, the Fowth or the Sanl3 Cbrilll Valley Chamber of
July. Fireworks came to ii rcgul3tly and Comrncrcc., hllve to scramble to keep
in a bis way when Pat Li1_za of Bcrm11c finding volunteers to t:ike on such
Powder Company first donated them to
the community in 1952. Sevcr.11 = diverse tasks n.s publicity. communic3-
tions. noot and olhct entry judging.
Lhcrca!tcr, the Kiwanis Club took over breakfasts, parade line up. p:irade
the dispby until II became too cxpcn· announcers. parade script 11,'fitcrs.
h·e for them (they broke e,•en one year secretnrics. hcrifT coordirmtion. •
by ~ins the hat in the, SUIOds.) refreshments, sign painters. VIP SJCC·
tcrs, con"crtible top car owners to carry
The Mighty Signal stepped an ten
politico in the p;aradc itself, clean up
years ago and filled the gap at the lllSt crews and a myriAd or others to hnndle
minute when no other fircwor~ spon- details too numerous to e,-cn think
sor could be round. Mugic Mounmin nbouL
and the Saugus Speedway have compli-
problem bcclwseoftheFounhfalling in Rood leading hi lute.st kids in the SUIIS
mcn1ed :rbc Signal· 11l rady incomp:ar-
ablc show over lhe )'CMS with thclr own In earlier ycars there C\'ffl the middle of summer llon. The nnd Stri • Forever.
street dance where Tn:slenus Mnrl<- p:iuclty or b:lnds bcc:ime QC!Jtc that Until recently, gnmbllng nly.-ays
displays. But nothing 1w been done 10 et now ta. It wu the only Sa.f'cway ln
compare with the extro,'llj;MUI Ill lillrt Si~ columnist. Mimi. Wl1! forced to found hs way int.o the mclco. It got oul
the Valley. In 1939, Satchell dub the 1977 elTort the "Plop Plop
High School 111111 is peculiarly home McV ya orchctt.ra rceclVcd grmt of hnnd one year when some of our
grown nnd loved by nil, ~'J)CCinlly when fanfo.rc tn Tho Slgn4I being PM1d ," because the only sound that more illustrious cill1..cns set up 11 high
1he popcorn I plcnllful. ·colored· band. PcopJc came from could be hcnrd W!l.5 lhc dropping of road slllkc' pok.cr llllmc nex1 10 thc low
mllcs around to dance and be cntcr- ppl by horses Q.i they plodded nloni; slllkcs bingo gnme ut Saxonlu Park.
Three gencrations or Trueblood tnlncd by hJa music. HOWl\l'd Wlng- the route. A )'CM°' so l:ltcr, poor Prop. Money~ hands furiou,ly. Thllt ls,
M\'C run the whole sheb3ng while other Ocld won the pie eaUng contest. I blamed fo, the kids not suiting the money of the outlllndcrs passed into
chairmen h:lvc come and gone nllcr up and m:irchin -itsimply "°' in lhd hands or our cardshtltks, In such
being burned out by heavy voluntccl- Queens luvo como and gone.: s.b.1- the bud~. huge um that tho Oecced oomplalned
ism at the bcgiming and ending with l'll 3ordcn. the s1acr or lol1g time to out or town newspapers. They raised
the gasps of the few who actually did S ugu High math t.cxhcr Judy Tr:ldition:tlly, however. Hnrt and uch :i ruckus that bingo disoppwcd.
the wort. In 1953, Fred Trueblood. Sr., Stevens, Barbana Ayres. Carol Sh:!ugh- Placcrilll l\mve tc:uncd up to lllllrCh In
owner and publisher of The Signal nc:ssy, Jimmy Wright, B:wb:n Melby, some amay Of olhct. Usually, they arc Then there was D41.e Taylor who
wrote. in a moment or pique. Billie Siuon, Lind4 Pigg:ind one lady in not unlfonncd but they :alway sound became lhe hero of 111 lcu1 three or his
the lllle '30s who was the mochct of good. espocwly when Larry Thornton, girl friends with whom he shared his
Stagl11g a full day's activities is a job the V'CJICtllblc Hart bandrnasl.C.r, putS
winnings in 1956. One or the carnival
of lllbrmous proportions in a commwti- two! ~ (:amous wide smile on bis fxc and gwncs boasu:d huge panda bears as'
ry the size of N~hall. TM tUUnbu of Lact of music has always been a marcbcs proud down San Femilndo ~111,.,.,