_{Above photo: Del Norte County’s public health nurses and those who gave out COVID-19 vaccines were the grand marshals in the 2021 Independence Day parade | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews. Thumbnail photo: Members of the Crescent City Emblem Club wrapped themselves up in the flag for the 1998 Independence Day parade as shown on the Triplicate’s front page. | Photo by Aisling Bludworth}

Valerie Starkey still remembers the Bicentennial at Beachfront Park, and while she doesn’t want to out do that celebration, she hopes the Semiquincentennial will be just as memorable.

“Two hundred and fifty years — that’s a huge milestone for this country,” she said. “We are really celebrating something that’s special to Del Norte County. It’s special to the nation. I think we all felt that way.”

The Del Norte County District 2 supervisor heads the Fourth of July committee for the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce. This year instead of asking the community to select a theme for the festivities in Downtown Crescent City, Starkey and her colleagues wanted to recognize “the decades that we’ve been a community together.”

Crescent City’s Independence Day celebration begins on July 3 with the annual Deck Party. This year the party will be at the Clock Tower Parking Lot at 3rd and K streets since the Cultural Center is under construction.

The celebration continues on July 4 with a parade, a festival at Beachfront Park and a fireworks display over Battery Point Lighthouse.

The deadline to enter the parade is June 17. According to Starkey, the parade route had been changed due to construction on Front Street. However, due to a delay in materials, the procession will follow the original route — H to 3rd streets, to K Street, to Front Street. A one-block quiet zone will be enforced on K Street. People are asked to turn off sirens, horns and muskets until they reach the post office, according to a letter from Chamber Executive Director Cindy Vosburg.

Other activities during the day include a 5K Fun Run starting at the first turnout on the northern end of Pebble Beach Drive at 10 a.m. Festival highlights include Cow Chip Bingo and the Fireman Water Ball Challenge on Play Street.

A major part of that “Del Norte County Through The Decades” theme is recognizing all the grand marshals that have been celebrated over the years.

“I’ve been having such a wonderful time going through that list,” Starkey said, adding that Chamber Assistant Michelle Radison, who is also a member of the Del Norte Historical Society, helped with the research for that list. “It’s just so interesting to see what they contributed to the community.”

There will be a float with the name of every single grand marshal from 1954 on, Starkey said. She compared it to the Vietnam War Memorial wall and said the float will be on display at Beachfront Park after the display.

The chamber also invited living grand marshals to take part in the parade, Starkey said, adding that, so far, she’s found seven. They will follow the Grand Marshal float in individual cars, she said.

In some cases, the grand marshal hasn’t been one individual, but a group of people. In 2004 Del Norte County honored veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans were also honored in 1976.

During 2021, Del Norte honored the public health nurses and emergency personnel who were part of the local COVID-19 response.

“I reached out to our public health department and asked if they wanted to compile a group of people,” Starkey said. “There are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war, we will be allowing them to be in the parade in a car. We’re doing the best we can in order to do those groupings.”

In addition to gearing up for the big party, Del Norte County leaders, including the sheriff’s office and Crescent City Police Department are continuing their crackdown on illegal fireworks. This enforcement comes in the wake of a fireworks explosion that occurred on South Beach two years ago and sent 14 people to the hospital.

Starkey said the Chamber’s messaging about illegal fireworks will be going out to the community soon.

At Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting, Commissioner Gerhard Weber said that when people are trying to exit the area following the fireworks display “the traffic is a mess.” Weber said he spoke with the California Highway Patrol who would be willing to have two officers in the area to help with traffic control as people exit onto U.S. 101.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office will also be stationed on the beach side near Anchor Way and U.S. 101, according to Weber.

Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said CCHD is also working to hire four people to address parking during the holiday. The harbormaster mentioned reaching out to the local Boy Scouts as well as New Dawn Support Services, an organization that helps individuals with developmental disabilities. 

For more information about entering the parade and for a schedule of events, click here or call (707) 464-3174.