Anchorage Native Fiddlers Association at the Fourth of July Parade in Anchorage

Marching band at the Anchorage Fourth of July parade

Filipino American pride at the Fourth of July parade in Anchorage

The U.S. Army, from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, participated with a snowcat

Crow Crew Pipes and Drums, looking good

Anchorage firefighters marching proud

(Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

It is the 241st birthday of the United States of America. For the 231st party, in 2007, I was in Anchorage, living the Alaska dream. On a typically cloudy Anchorage July day, I walked from my nearby home to downtown and caught the annual Fourth of July parade.

These parades are magnificent in Alaska. Alaskans know how to make them inclusive and celebratory for everyone who calls the Great Land home. They show participants what community means, because in a harsh place, you have to rely on others. You really cannot do it alone.

The parade in Anchorage also brought back fond memories of seeing July 4 parades in Sitka, where I once lived briefly in 1992, and then visited for a Fourth of July in 2004.

The 2007 parade in Anchorage featured a diverse stream of floats and bands, from the U.S. military, the city’s diverse ethnic communities, musicians of all kinds and the LGBTQ community. If you cannot make it to Alaska for a Fourth of July parade, you can enjoy this one from a decade back. Have a great holiday.