July 4th Parade
July 4, 2009
Photos by: Laurel, John M.
July 4th Parade
by Laurel
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 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.Remember this? It’s the beginning paragraph of The Declaration of Independence written by John Hancock, dated July 4, 1776 and signed by representatives of the 13 states at that time, and written with the King of Great Britain as the target and the wrongs he and his countrymen inflicted on this country.
I attended the chapter’s participation in Fremont’s 4th of July Parade on Saturday. I arrived at Faultline around 8:10 a.m. and Mike G. was there with bagels and coffee, and although the morning started off with a tinge of grey, it became a beautiful day. I assigned myself as photographer and began taking pictures beginning at Faultline and ending around 11:30 with the Pirates of Emerson. Barb led about 20 bikes or so to the staging area at the southern end of Warm Springs Boulevard and once there many began to decorate their bikes. My husband Michael is quite the patriotic guy and he was left alone as he transformed his Harley into something spectacular. Yep, he won again this year! I wandered around taking pictures of everyone and then I spotted Bill Van Ness adorning his Harley with his girlfriend Noelle and saw my opportunity of a candid shot of him forever giving him his 15 minutes of fame. Marian didn’t decorate her bike, but she was red, white and blue from head to toe. Joe Godinho rode his very patriotic Victory motorcycle and it was sharp looking. John and Margaret Mulcock showed up just before judging and I couldn’t resist getting a picture of John’s sexy legs. Even Tattoo participated!
The parade started right at 10:00 a.m. and rather than walk all the way down to the other end where the parade was to end, I stayed at the beginning & took pictures from a good vantage point and was snapping away as each participant started walking by. I haven’t attended a July 4th parade in 20 years at least, so for me it was pretty fun. Our chapter led the parade with great enthusiasm from the crowds. Cheers, clapping, etc. Those Harleys look and sounded so awesome as they led the way!
So far so good, but why you may ask did I start of this off this ride report reminding everyone about The Declaration of Independence? I did so for one reason. As I was taking pictures a truck passed by and I was snapping away until I realized what I was looking at. A banner of Lance Corporal Travis J. Layfie, age 19, hometown Fremont, CA, died April 6, 2004. That was a sobering moment for me because I was reminded why we had the parade. It’s more than pretty floats, balloons, music, dancing kids, marching bands, Cub Scout Troops, Oakland Raiderettes, etc. We have these parades for soldiers like Lance Corporal Layfie, who died fighting for our freedom. We have them for our very own Rick Fey who is in Afghanistan and we all pray for his safety. During the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, we fought for freedom from tyranny. Today, 226 years later we are fighting again for the wrongs inflicted on this country by others who would do us harm and threaten the very foundation of this country…freedom.
Our chapter rode in this parade for a variety of reasons and I like to think it’s because we love our country and we believe in our freedom and we rode in the parade because that’s what we do! Barb has said she’d like to see this become another chapter tradition and that’s my challenge to all of you: Next year let’s see a huge turn- out. 40, 60, 100 bikes! Can you imagine that sight?! We should all try to participate next year because it’s our right. Our right to freedom and our right to own and ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. More important than any other reason, it’s our right to honor and remember those who have died for us.
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July 4th Parade
by Laurel
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 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.Remember this? It’s the beginning paragraph of The Declaration of Independence written by John Hancock, dated July 4, 1776 and signed by representatives of the 13 states at that time, and written with the King of Great Britain as the target and the wrongs he and his countrymen inflicted on this country.
I attended the chapter’s participation in Fremont’s 4th of July Parade on Saturday. I arrived at Faultline around 8:10 a.m. and Mike G. was there with bagels and coffee, and although the morning started off with a tinge of grey, it became a beautiful day. I assigned myself as photographer and began taking pictures beginning at Faultline and ending around 11:30 with the Pirates of Emerson. Barb led about 20 bikes or so to the staging area at the southern end of Warm Springs Boulevard and once there many began to decorate their bikes. My husband Michael is quite the patriotic guy and he was left alone as he transformed his Harley into something spectacular. Yep, he won again this year! I wandered around taking pictures of everyone and then I spotted Bill Van Ness adorning his Harley with his girlfriend Noelle and saw my opportunity of a candid shot of him forever giving him his 15 minutes of fame. Marian didn’t decorate her bike, but she was red, white and blue from head to toe. Joe Godinho rode his very patriotic Victory motorcycle and it was sharp looking. John and Margaret Mulcock showed up just before judging and I couldn’t resist getting a picture of John’s sexy legs. Even Tattoo participated!
The parade started right at 10:00 a.m. and rather than walk all the way down to the other end where the parade was to end, I stayed at the beginning & took pictures from a good vantage point and was snapping away as each participant started walking by. I haven’t attended a July 4th parade in 20 years at least, so for me it was pretty fun. Our chapter led the parade with great enthusiasm from the crowds. Cheers, clapping, etc. Those Harleys look and sounded so awesome as they led the way!
So far so good, but why you may ask did I start of this off this ride report reminding everyone about The Declaration of Independence? I did so for one reason. As I was taking pictures a truck passed by and I was snapping away until I realized what I was looking at. A banner of Lance Corporal Travis J. Layfie, age 19, hometown Fremont, CA, died April 6, 2004. That was a sobering moment for me because I was reminded why we had the parade. It’s more than pretty floats, balloons, music, dancing kids, marching bands, Cub Scout Troops, Oakland Raiderettes, etc. We have these parades for soldiers like Lance Corporal Layfie, who died fighting for our freedom. We have them for our very own Rick Fey who is in Afghanistan and we all pray for his safety. During the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, we fought for freedom from tyranny. Today, 226 years later we are fighting again for the wrongs inflicted on this country by others who would do us harm and threaten the very foundation of this country…freedom.
Our chapter rode in this parade for a variety of reasons and I like to think it’s because we love our country and we believe in our freedom and we rode in the parade because that’s what we do! Barb has said she’d like to see this become another chapter tradition and that’s my challenge to all of you: Next year let’s see a huge turn- out. 40, 60, 100 bikes! Can you imagine that sight?! We should all try to participate next year because it’s our right. Our right to freedom and our right to own and ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. More important than any other reason, it’s our right to honor and remember those who have died for us.
