Have you ever been in a parade? How about Burien’s Annual 4th of July Parade?
Well, we were lucky enough to be accepted (how that happened we still don’t know…), and we thought we’d share our first-hand, exclusive, eyewitness account, which was actually written during the parade as we were pulled on a flatbed trailer by BTB Advertiser Airport/Burien Towing.
Here it is, beginning with a first-hand point-of-view slideshow by yours truly:
11:10am: Dropped the Blogmobile (our branded, racing green Mini Cooper) off at Airport/Burien Towing. Joe, our driver, let me drive the car up onto the flatbed trailer myself. It was cool because I wasn’t sure I had gotten the tires on the ramps correctly, but I just went for it ‘cuz Joe gave me the thumbs up.
2:20pm: Returned to Airport/Burien Towing to prepare the car for the parade. It was all ready for us on the flatbed truck, and Joe and his son even put our banners up. Joe’s son will be riding shotgun in the air-conditioned truck cab. We’re all now very jealous of them both as it’s very hot out.
2:30pm: Put table, chairs etc. on board our flatbed truck. It’s really hot, gotta be at least 85 degrees. Oh, and the flatbed truck is black metal. Eees already super sweaty niiiice.
2:45pm: By now, we’re all aboard and sitting at our card table or foldable lawn chairs. Laptops are fired up and hot, we’re all too hot already, and I can’t find an open wi-fi signal. So much for “blogging live” from the actual parade route.
3pm: The parade starts, but we don’t move. It feels like we’re trapped at a mini reviewing stand/oven as parade participants start streaming past us. Soon, we’re judging them all. Mayor Joan McGilton practices her wave to us. The gals from the Hi-Liners‘ “Thoroughly Modern Millie” do a cute dance routine right in front of us.
3:15pm: We’re finally drawn into the parade, behind an Asian Dragon Drum Corps and in front of the Burien Bearcats.
3:23pm: Seems like there are people watching this parade who actually know about us! Someone gave us a thumbs up. Others yell “way to go!” No booing. Yet.
3:28pm: I just noticed that the group in front of us is relentlessly banging their drums. Same beat. Over. And over. Again. Must be one heckuva dragon.
3:30pm: We turn the corner down SW 153rd Street after passing by BTB Advertiser Wag the Dog. Suddenly the crowds thin, then we realize that everyone’s probably watching from inside The Hobnobber.
3:34pm: We turn left on 2nd Ave SW. There’s a bump in the road. Then a slight hill. Everyone holds on a bit tighter now.
3:34pm: We finally enter some shade as we turn west on SW 152nd into the core of downtown Burien. unfortunately, we’ve all consumed whatever little water we brought with us.
3:38pm: A guy in the crowd shows off his brand new B-Town Blog t-shirt, which isn’t faded like ours. He turns down my offer to trade shirts.
3:43pm: As we enter Dealy Plaza, it’s a thrill to see the landmark Burien School Book Depository building. There’s some guy in a window on the 6th floor. I wave to him and—
3:49pm: The drum corps is now going totally nuts, banging everything really hard as if they’re doing their big finish. Our collective heads are starting to hurt.
4:05pm: We’ve passed by some of our wonderful Advertisers, including Wag the Dog, Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub (where I suddenly wish I was downing an ice cold pint) Moss Chiropractic (suddenly my neck hurts) the City of Burien, Burien Trophy and probably a few others that I’ve missed but will soon hear from…
4:06pm: An adult male with Boy Scouts Troop #377 waves to us. I then realize why I never joined the Boy Scouts. That uniform must be hot!
4:08pm: At the reviewing stand, we’re surprised at how small it is…just 3 people, and the Announcer’s announcement about us is totally drowned out by the incredibly loud drum and dragon corps in front of us.
4:09pm: We turn right on 8th Ave SW in front of the fire station where it appears the parade is ending. Wait, no it’s not, the drum crops is drumming again.
4:15pm: We’re back at Airport/Burien Towing, where we peel ourselves off our nearly-melted plastic chairs and come back to reality. The parade is over, and we all realize that our “float” kinda sucks. We vow to do something better next year.
Have any ideas for our “float” for the 2010 parade? Please Comment below…
Burien’s 3 Tree Point celebrated the 4th of July with its annual Independence Day multi-block and beach party, with a community breakfast, flag raising ceremony, an all-day art show at the old store, a kid’s parade, treasure hunt on the beach (with a reported $125+ in coins hidden), carnival games, a bouncy house, numerous live bands on the deck of a house near the beach and much more, all capped off with a spectacular $21,000+ professional fireworks display from a barge anchored off the point.
Here’s a photo slideshow of the day’s highlights by Photographer Michael Brunk:
Click to View Michael Brunk’s Photo Slideshow
Burien’s 88th annual 4th of July parade featured local businesses, organizations, schools, artists, bands, mascots on Segways, the Seafair Pirates, and more, as well as your very own B-Town Bloggers “blogging live” on back of a flatbed truck pulled by Advertiser Airport Towing, and here’s a photo slideshow of the event as seen through the eyes of Photographer Michael Brunk:
Click to View Michael Brunk’s Photo Slideshow
We’ll be posting our “live blog” transcript shortly, so be sure to check back soon…
Happy Independence Day Burien!
Here’s a good way to celebrate your independence, your community, your country – read the actual text from the Declaration of Independence:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
| Jul ’09 |
| 4 |
| 10:00 am |
Our nearest neighbor to the south, the beautiful City of Normandy Park, has posted the following schedule for what’s going on there on the 4th of July – everything from a 2.8K Fun Run to a Children’s Parade to a Social at The Cove:
“Join your neighbors and friends at the Normandy Park 4th of July Social sponsored by the Normandy Park Community Club and the City of Normandy Park from 10am until 1pm. All Normandy Park residents are encouraged to join in the fun for these morning and early afternoon festivities:
10:25am: 2.8K Fun Run. It’s free, but pre-registration is highly suggested. The course is from Marvista Elementary to Marine View Drive & Shoremont. Runners be sure to arrive at the starting area before 10:10am as number pick up will close at that time. This year’s custom designed race t-shirt can be ordered in advance by all runners for pick it up at the finish line. Non-runners may purchase any left over shirts at the end of the race. They are only $15 each. Contact the Cove office to register 206-242-3778 or visit www.npcove.org
10:30am: Children’s Parade. Everyone is welcome to join in, either from the start (be at Marvista no later than 10:15!) or from anywhere along the parade route, which ends at the Cove Building. Classic cars, floats, wagons, bicycles, strollers, horses, marching bands – - all are encouraged to participate. Paint your face, decorate your bike, get out your flags; be festive or plain. Please, however, no campaigning or political signs. The Normandy Park Arts Commission will once again offer children prizes for the best decorated bicycles. Children who participate in the Parade are encouraged to decorate their bikes in the holiday spirit and enter the Bike Decorating Contest. Prizes will be awarded for the Best Patriotic decorations
11:15am: Social at the Cove. After the parade everyone is invited for free Ice Cream at the Cove. To satisfy your lunchtime hunger, hot dogs and beverages will be offered. Festivities include Classic Car Show and, Large Blow Up Toys and Temporary Tattoos for youngsters. All of this will be accompanied by Live Patriotic Music on the lawn.
Line the streets, enjoy the parade, and attend the Community Social at the Cove!
Road Closure Information:
- Marine View Drive and Shorebrook Drive will be closed to motor vehicles during the festivites from approx. 9:30am-12:00pm. Please use caution and consider alternate routes.
If you’re considering other local fun on the 4th, here’s a link to the schedule for 3 Tree Point’s all-day block party.
Photo by ericagirlwonder
It’s one of the highlights of the Burien area on the 4th of July – the Three Tree Point Fireworks celebration, which is supported entirely by donations from residents in area communities, not just the citizens who live down there.
From personal experience, I can say that these fireworks celebrations are amazing all-day Americana affairs, starting with a community breakfast, a flag-raising ceremony, a children’s parade (with the incentive being a prize of a popsicle at the end) then an evening of outstanding, professional fireworks launched from a barge anchored right off the point.
It’s a crazy block party, with live music, beach parties, insanely huge bonfires and more, and the 10pm display can be seen for miles.
Neighbors have already set up a website for this year’s blast, and they’re seeking donations to help offset the $20k+ cost. For those who donate more than $150, you get invited to a fun neighborhood dinner party.
Here’s some info from the Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund website:
The Three Tree Point Fireworks celebration is supported entirely by donations from the communities of Three Tree Point, Seahurst, Normandy Park, Seola Beach, Arroyo Beach and Arbor Heights.
Our barge based, high-altitude fireworks show has gotten better every year thanks to countless people of have donated time and money.
In 2009, our goal is to keep the fireworks and community celebrations at the same great level that they have been at. This is the first year we are seeking corporate sponsors for our event.
We raise funds in May to ensure we have time to get all the permits, insurance and the best vendors.
Originally started by the Miller family as a gift to The Three Tree Point Community, the firewoks tradition was continued by neighbors when the Millers moved away.
In addition to the fireworks, the neighborhood traditions of pancake breakfast , kids games, flag raising with awards, bike parade and more have been ushering in summer at our great communitnity. What a great place to live!
Donate today on this site, or contact us!
For more information, e-mail us.
To donate online, click here.
If you prefer to snailmail your donation, make a check out to “3TPFF” and mail to:
3TPFF
c/o Murray and Julie Dow
9 Three Tree Point Lane
Burien WA, 98166
Happy Independence Day from the B-Town Blog!
Here’s a scene from today’s festivities in B-Town, this one of two independent children celebrating the 4th by leading the kid’s parade at Three Tree Point with this lovely banner:
| Jul ’08 |
| 4 |
| 3:00 pm |
Got patriotic spirit?
Looking for something fun to do until it’s time for fireworks?
Why not join other Burien residents and guests as they watch the 87th Annual Burien Independence Day Parade?
Rain or shine, the annual Parade will begin at 3pm on Friday the 4th, and will last approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
This year the route has been reversed, so the Parade will start at Ambaum and SW 150th, then will head south on Ambaum and then East onto 153rd, North on 2nd Ave., then West on 152nd:
(click on map to download larger version suitable for detailed viewing/printing)
Some featured acts include:
- Heroic Burien Firefighters
- Cub Scout Pack 377 will be collecting donations for Fire Victims as they march
- The Keystone Kops
- Chinese Dragon
- Bagpipers
- Drill teams
- Beauty queens
- Marching bands
- Antique cars
- Ronald McDonald
- And many others!
This is a longstanding Burien tradition that is fun for the entire family.
This year’s Parade is brought to you by:
| Jul ’08 |
| 4 |
Lots of fun celebrations planned around the area for the 4th of July (which just happens to fall on Friday, July 4th this year):
BURIEN:
Noon-3pm: Olde Burien will be hosting a ‘Harley meets Vespa’ BBQ Street Party. The Vespa Club of Seattle will have a large contingency of scooters included in the parade.
3pm: The 85th annual Burien Independence Day parade starts on Ambaum Blvd. SW and SW 149th, then turns east on SW 153rd to 2nd SW then loops back to Ambaum on SW 152nd.
Before the parade, hop on your bike and take part in the 33rd annual Joe Matava Classic and Washington State Juniors Criterium bike races along SW 153rd and 152nd streets.
THREE TREE POINT:
1/2pm+: The most charming local neighborhood kids’ parade in the USA happens as kids dress up their trikes, bikes, scooters and pets and parade down SW 172nd to earn the reward of an ice-cold popsicle. Oh yeah, be sure to wear a helmet kids, as about halfway down the street you’re going to be pelted by some wacky neighbors throwing candy! After the parade, be sure to hang out around the corner of SW 172nd and Maplewild where there will be lots of great kids games with prizes.
10pm+: Professional neighborhood Fireworks display blasted off a barge anchored just off the point.
NORMANDY PARK:
10:25am: The celebration begins at Marvista Elementary with the 7th Annual All Downhill Fun Run followed by a parade. The parade leaves the school at 10:30am, traveling north on Marine View Drive to Shorebrook Drive, then west to the Normandy Park Cove. Kids are invited to decorate their bikes, scooters and other modes of transport in the holiday spirit and enter the bike-decorating contest. Prizes will be awarded for the best patriotic decorations.
At the Cove there will be free ice cream, hot dogs, beverages, popcorn, snow-cones, music, car show, inflatable kids toys and more.
Marine View and Shorebrook will be closed to all cars from approximately 9:30am to Noon.
DES MOINES:
6pm: Family events, food, arts, crafts, kids activities, entertainment and more, including singer Joey Jewell, who will do his musical tribute to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin with a backing big band.
DUSK: 7th Annual “Fireworks Over Des Moines” presented by the Des Moines Arts Commission and launched from the marina pier.
For more information, call 206-870-6527 or visit www.desmoineswa.gov.SEATAC:
5pm: The fun kicks off with a special music performance in the park.
10pm-ish: Fireworks will light up the sky over Angle Lake, which is located at 19408 International Boulevard.
TUKWILA:
2pm+: celebrate Independence Day AND Tuwkila’s Centennial at Tukwila’s “Family 4th at the Fort” at Fort Dent Park, located at 6800 Fort Dent Park Way.
Events include children’s fun, with inflatable bouncers, slides, climbing wall and preschooler’s area. Fireworks go off around 10pm, and there will also be food and entertainment.
For more information, call 206-768-2822 or go to www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/recreation/recevent.html.
MUSEUM OF FLIGHT:
11am & 2pm: Skyway Post 9430 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will present all 27 versions of the American flag’s history in the William M. Allen Theater at the Museum of Flight, located at 9404 East Marginal Way South in Tukwila.
On Friday July 4th and Saturday July 5th, the museum’s exhibits, galleries and store will remain open until 7pm.
NOTE: If you notice that we’re missing any area events from this listing, please email us!
Every 4th of July, it seems that everyone and their little brother-in-law treks on down Maplewild Ave SW to the cozy little ‘hood of Three Tree Point.
And every 4th, the neighbors of said ‘hood pitch in to fund a spectacular high-altitude fireworks show (these are major, professionally-launched fireworks folks, launched from a barge anchored off the point starting ’round 10pm), visible from all around Puget Sound. The roads get clogged, parking spots are rare, and it’s like one huge rockin’ block party.
In the past, only the neighbors in the area have been able to donate to the Fireworks Fund, but B-Town Blog is here to change that.
Here’s what your generous donation will help provide:
- An outstanding, breath-taking display put on by the pros at Western Fireworks
- Tug, barge and fuel fees
- Insurance and permits
- Police support
- Dumpster rental for July 5th cleanup
The usual cost for all these things has gone up since last year to a projected goal of $21,000, which is why this here B-Town Blog is kindly asking for everyone in the general area who enjoys this show to please donate something to the Fireworks Fund.
And this year, you can even donate online by credit card right here! 
Just click on a dollar amount (ranging from $25 to $500), then enter your vitals via a secure website and voila – you won’t feel guilty anymore about “stealing” a great local entertainment tradition!
Please note that if you donate $150 or more, you’ll get an invitation to a special dinner party on Saturday June 28th. These parties are wonderful, with catered food, open bar, live music and great neighbors.
If you’d rather donate by check, send whatever you can afford to:
Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund (or “3TPFF”)
c/o Clark & Liz Mounsey
3721 SW 171st Street
Burien, WA 98166
Now…don’t you feel better by giving something?
Have fun, and as always, stay safe and sane.
