On behalf of the Riverside Friends of the Fourth committee, I would like to thank everyone who made this year’s Independence Day celebrations such a success. Despite the heat, we had a huge turnout for the July 3rd Concert in the Park. The music was great, our local vendors were hopping, and everyone had a wonderful time. We got to honor our friend and colleague Rey Navarro as grand marshal, and this year saw the inaugural lighting of our Independence Day water tower.
The Independence Day 5K Run also hit new highs with over 500 runners braving the morning sun. The parade followed suit with more participants than ever, and the streets were lined with the smiling faces of friends and family. The Festival in the Park made a perfect cap to our celebrations.
It was truly Riverside’s party, and as always it was our residents who made it happen. To our many individual, group and corporate donors, thank you. Without your generosity these celebrations would not be possible. To our intrepid Parks and Recreation Department, whose director and staff worked late on the third and were back at it early the next morning, another awesome job (Teresa you can have your baby now). And thank you to our police, fire, and public works departments who all pitched in to make everything work so smoothly and safely.
We are already looking forward to next year! If you have ideas or suggestions on how we can make things even better please let us know.
Ben Sells
Riverside
The Riverside Friends of the Fourth committee is Joe Ballerine, JoAnne Kosey, Andy Daun, Rey Navarro, Danny Jisa and Ben Sells.
