Here's what I recall from the early days of the "4th of July Committee".....

 In about Feb. of 1987 there was a small article on the front page of "The Sierra Madre News". As you would recall the newspaper came out on Thursday at the local news-racks and this meeting was as I recall that very night at the City Hall council chamber. I was pretty horrified that any mention of the parade being on thin ice, so I decided to attend and just sit in the back. Many of the pillars of the city were there, so it seemed as though some solution could be at hand. David May ran the informal meeting. He, being the representative from the Chamber of Commerce which had run the parade for all the previous years (I believe the first parade was 1965).

The Chambers concerns were that they lacked the volunteers to run the parade and were looking to the community for suggestions. Some people in the audience suggested starting a committee to run the parade and the related activities. That was how the meeting ended. There was about 40 people in attendance as I recall, so there seemed to be plenty of volunteers to make this happen. David May said that there would be the first "4th of July Committee" meeting the following week at City Hall in the conference room.

I thought I'd show up the following week and just a handful of other people did. Over the next few months ,the membership had grown to be Jeanette Griffith who would be our Chair, Ed Wellman, Bill Thompson, Fran Powell, Nancy Miller (who's father, Walter Fader was instrumental in funding the new bandshell which was completed in 1987 to replace the one ruined by a windstorm). Also on the committee was Sheri Burnett, John Wagner, Ollie Gardener (VFW), Len Cummings who was the head of the local "Sierra Madre Ham Radio Club" which provided "communications" by their volunteers along the parade route (nobody had cellphones in 1987) in case of any emergency. I, also, was there to do "whatever" I could do to help out.

In the next few years we would also add Hank Landsberg, Helen Walker, Jack Wolfe, Celeste McCrarey, JoAnn Williams, Jim Little, and Carrol Brown. There, no doubt, were others too that are slipping my memory. My apologies to them....

Our first year in 1987 was a struggle with no money and no idea of what to do. Ollie Gardener from the VFW came to our rescue! The VFW loaned us enough money to buy t-shirts to sell and to provide some source of money to operate. One of our members drew up the artwork for our first t-shirt.

We also had to raise money for "port-a-potties". Bill Thompson came up with these plastic mini-porta-potties that were coin banks about ten inches tall. He (had the nerve) placed them in many local businesses and collected the coins on a weekly basis.

That was our first real income. After the 4th of July in 1987 we were fortunate enough to pay back the VFW AND have some operating capital for 1988! Also, a HUGE help was having our 4th of July booth just north of the small stairs in Memorial Park where we took in hundreds of dollars in donations into our jar on a folding table. The public REALLY dug deep and filled the jar with cash. Our t-shirts sold out and we went home happy and proud.

We knew that the parade's future was alive and well as the good people of Sierra Madre really pushed us over the top. The Chamber ran the beer garden, the Rose Float Association made the burgers and the other local groups provided pizza, lemonade, ice cream, etc...and the 4th of July Committee got a fraction of the profits for our treasury.

After the Whittier Earthquake of Oct. 1987, Jeanette Williams left California. She dropped off her paperwork at my house in the Fall of '87 and said, here ya go, you're the new Chair! So, in 1988 I became the chair with no idea what to do next. Thankfully the 1987 parade and activities were a success thanks to Jeanette's leadership, so all I had to do was rinse, repeat, rinse and repeat.

Our first real purchase with our new funds was the glorious parade banner. I went to pick it up but the LONG wood pole was a problem. Being 16 feet long, it was almost as long as my old, trusty Dodge van. The guys at the shop used rope to hold the rear of the pole to the hinge of my right rear door. The front they placed over my right-side rear-view mirror. Then the remaining part of the pole dangled out front almost to my front bumper. For the sake of safety, I took surface streets home. That was and is one fabulous banner. Long May It Bring Joy to All That See It Coming!!

Some of our Grand Marshals over the years were John & Jane Buchan, the Osti Family, Phyllis Chapman, Jan Reed, Mama Pete (Marjorie Peterson), Joe Degatto, Gordon Caldwell, Tensie Benson, Search & Rescue, Ty Gaffney, Bob Quarnstrom, Helen Walker (posthumously), Ralph Rule & Sam Simpson, etc., and our first Grand Marshal in 1987 was Shirley Rosenkranz who was named California Teacher of the Year for 1986. My apologies to those who I've not listed.

In 1981 the parade and activities were run by Charlie and Marge Peterson. 1981 was a big deal because that was, supposedly, when the town was founded. We all know that Sierra Madre would not be incorporated in 1907, but still 1881 was still worth celebrating. As they did for the Nation's Bicentennial in 1976, the Historical Society brought the Pacific Electric red car back to town in 1981. It was an actual "red car" trolley that had been mounted on a truck chassis so it could navigate streets without rails. A house moving permit was needed to drive it from Long Beach to Sierra Madre up Lakewood Blvd. Rosemead Blvd. It had to be moved in the middle of the night with police escort. The red car was parked in Kersting Court right where many of the vintage photos were taken of it before 1950 when the line was decommissioned. Sierra Madre Blvd. was shut down to traffic all the way to Sunnyside so people could "ride the big rad car" down the middle of the street for the three days that it was here.

The 1976 parade was the only 4th of July Parade to be held on a Sunday. Just as with the Pasadena Rose Parade most cities avoided parades on Sundays. BUT, 1976 was a really big deal as all of America had been holding celebrations for the entire year. The United States Bicentennial was a full year long event dedicated to our 200th year as a Nation. The parade was held on the 4th here in Sierra Madre on that Sunday, too, but the parade didn't start until 1:00. Everyone was happy with the time change from the traditional 10AM start time and that parade was a huge success.

I was Chair from 1988 until 1996 when I handed it off to Hank Landsberg. After Hank, Matt Bossie took over and from there I lost track. I stayed with the committee for 21 years. My last year would be our Centennial in 2007.

Those 21 years were some of the best years of my life. I never knew how many wonderful people I'd end up meeting and how good it felt to do something special for the fine people of Sierra Madre. There really is no better feeling than to be exhausted yet totally satisfied knowing that so many people really enjoyed themselves.

But, here the big thing, the thing that volunteers don't talk much about. Events such as the 4th of July Parade and the related activities are the roots. These are the events of tomorrow's photo albums and tomorrow's joyous memories. The Committee is holding events, yes, we get that. But what you're doing is sowing seeds, driving people's roots deeper, all without them knowing it. We are making our town their home, not just a place with a bed, but a home, a place of pride and ownership. Ownership, isn't that really the reason why we all volunteer? We seek ownership and we seek to share and inspire others to take pride and say, this is MY town! This is a town that I will take care of, and these people are MY neighbors! I may not have much money, but I have a huge amount of equity!

That's the goodness of volunteering. You always get back 10 times more than the effort you cast. It's a wonderful feeling and it's contagious!

My Best To You All....Carry On!!
Doug Hayes