PARTY
Gallup, Grants love a Fourth of July parade, festivities

ABOVE: Andrew Tsosie tosses a frozen popsicle to children during the annual Party in the Fourth of July Parade that made it's way through downtown on Friday morning. BELOW: Crowds of people watch the floats as they make their way down Coal Street on Friday morning during the Fourth of July Parade. The annual parade made it's way to the Gallup Sports Complex where for the Party in the Park celebration. [photos by Brian Leddy / Independent] MORE PHOTOS

By Kevin Killough and Jim Tiffin
Staff writers

Gallup’s Fourth of July Party in the Park celebration kicked off with the annual parade through downtown. Among those who participated in the parade were the Wingate High Rodeo team, the Lions Club, the Native Sky Hoop Dancers, various veterans group, and Senator John Pinto.

Corral West had a founding fathers theme to their float. It featured greeters on the float dressed in colonial costumes, complete with white wigs. They were followed by the band Six ‘o’ 2, which played live on their float.

The Diné veterans’ float was a wooden replica of a tank, which caught the attention of many children who attended.
Many of those who came said it was their first time coming to see the parade. Ethelyn Yazzie came out from Crownpoint with her daughter Shirlyn Morris and her sons Tytis and Tydrin.

“We got lots of candy,” Ethelyn’s daughter said with a cheek bulging from one of the hundreds of pieces that were thrown to the crowd by the parade participants.

“I like the bikes and the tank,” Tydrin said.

Tony Smith from Tsayatoh said that this was also his first time coming to the parade. He said that he really appreciated the veterans “honoring the troops” and the patriotic themes of the parade.

“It’s a good thing for the community of Gallup,” Smith said.
Tim and Jennifer Adock of Gallup moved here in the past year, making this their first parade in town. Jennifer said her daughters really enjoyed the parade.

“They loved the music and the candy,” she said.

The parade concluded at the Gallup Sports Complex, where the annual Party in the Park began. Dozens of vendors were set up between two stages, selling everything from fry bread to jewelry. In addition, one vendor had set up a climbing wall for people to try their rock climbing skills on. One stage held a gourd dance. The other stage held several live bands, which played throughout the day and evening.

In Grants, people were celebrating freedom. Freedom to make choices, freedom to act on those choices and freedom to do what one wants in a society that is based in revolution.

These are comments made by several people from Gallup, Ramah and Grants on this Fourth of July weekend.

“It means freedom of choice,” Tanya Ott, of Gallup said, “and, the holiday always brings families together.”

The Fourth means family and friends coming together to celebrate independence, Selina Evans of Ramah said.

“What the colonists did to create this country, that to me will never be forgotten,” she said.

“The Fourth of July represents freedom for our country,” Ruth Simouse of Kirtland said. “Driving around, looking at this country, you think about what those colonists did for us. I think about how hard it was for those people to get where they were going.”

“We really enjoy spending time with our family and friends every year and we have those early Americans to thank for that” she said.

Robert Johnson, of Fresno, Calif., in Grants for the holiday weekend, said he thinks the country’s founding fathers would have problems with the way the United States has evolved.
“We have constant challenges to gun ownership, and politicians putting themselves above the needs of the country,” he said.

“But, I still believe this is the greatest country in the world ... so far.”

— Reporter Jim Tiffin works out of the Independent’s Cibola County Bureau in Grants.

ABOVE: Raymond Clah of Pinon, Ariz. dances during the Gourd Dance at the Party in the Park celebration on Friday afternoon. BELOW: Gabriel Long tosses candy to spectators while riding on the Elite Laundry float during the annual Fourth of July Parade. The annual parade made it's way to the Gallup Sports Complex where for the Party in the Park celebration. [photos by Brian Leddy / Independent] TOP