While the Riverside Special Events Committee is trying to get off the ground, the Riverside Friends of the Fourth is embarking on its second year of fundraising to make the annual Independence Day celebration a reality.
According to Friends Chairwoman JoAnne Kosey, the parade will be held on Saturday, July 3 starting at 9 a.m. A concert in the park is scheduled for the preceding evening, July 2, in Guthrie Park.
Kosey writes a weekly column for the Landmark.
One change in the works for 2010’s parade is the route marchers will take once they get to downtown Riverside. The route will wind down Longcommon Road from the Big Ball Park and, instead of heading over the railroad tracks toward the township hall, the parade will turn left down East Burlington Street and into the heart of the central business district, ending just east of Riverside Foods.
The change has the support of a majority of the Friends of the Fourth committee, Kosey said, along with the Riverside Township Chamber of Commerce and Village Manager Peter Scalera.
“We’re looking at it as being more than likely that the parade will turn onto Burlington,” Scalera. “For the village it makes more sense, because you also reduce the chances of someone getting hurt going over the tracks.”
