Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Americans celebrated the 235th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with parades, fireworks and barbecues.

Thousands were showing up near the Washington Monument to eagerly await the annual fireworks show on the National Mall, as USA Today reported. In Boston, the annual Boston Pops concert was a must.

Readers of Sierra Foothills Report weighed in with their experiences — from Grass Valley to Truckee to Bend, Ore.

“One of the coolest sights from and around today’s parade in GV was the black and Muslim family walking in front of me afterward; the women folk dressed to the nines, the little girl holding up her American flag. Made me proud of this country we got,” wrote Anna Haynes.

The Center for the Arts had a creative “parade within a parade,” promoting Aaron Neville performing at Stars at North Star House on August 5. (Details here on Sierra FoodWineArt).

“This year we are in Bend Oregon for the 4th,” wrote Judith Lowry. “There are free concerts and lots of river activities all weekend. Gotta go, the Bend Fourth of July doggie parade is getting underway just below our (wonderful) hotel room. Can’t wait to see the flying dog everyone is buzzing about.”

We went to the Fourth of July parade in Truckee, as we do every few years. It was bustling, and the weather was picture perfect — with snow still visible on the mountaintops.

After a while, we met up with Steve Frisch and his wife, Lisa — who live within walking distance of the parade route — and watched it together. As at the western end of our county, it’s a fun, old-fashioned parade.

We clapped and cheered as the fire trucks, floats and horses passed by. A highlight was a Wells Fargo stagecoach. We welcomed the shots of cold water from the water guns on some of the floats.

Our son saw Smokey the Bear for the second day in a row. A day earlier we saw him at the Pancake Breakfast at Meek’s Bay. Hope you’re enjoying your holiday.

Here’s a video from the Truckee parade:

Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Editor’s note: The Fourth of July is a time to come together and celebrate our nation’s Independence. We are a melting pot of diversity.

Nowadays, however, our nation is in a precarious place. More and more, we are showing signs of intolerance.

Examples abound: A tea party sign, “Bend over for Change,” that appeared in the Grass Valley July 4 parade two years ago, a growing element of Islamophobes, or certain anti-immigration laws that are being passed in some southern and western states.

“If you thought the do-it-yourself anti-immigrant schemes couldn’t get any more repellent, you were wrong,” The New York Times is reporting.

“New laws in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina are following — and in some ways outdoing — Arizona’s attempt to engineer the mass expulsion of the undocumented, no matter the damage to the Constitution, public safety, local economies and immigrant families.”

“The laws vary in their details but share a common strategy: to make it impossible for people without papers to live without fear.

“They give new powers to local police untrained in immigration law. They force businesses to purge work forces and schools to check students’ immigration status.

“And they greatly increase the danger of unreasonable searches, false arrests, racial profiling and other abuses, not just against immigrants, but anyone who may look like some officer’s idea of an illegal immigrant.

“Civil rights organizations are suing or threatening to sue to block these noxious state laws. So far federal courts have enjoined parts of bad local laws in Arizona, Georgia, Utah and Indiana. President Obama’s Department of Justice has sued Arizona but not the other states. It needs to fight harder.”

The rest of the article is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 52 Comments »