JESSICA MOLASKEY

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Days Ice Cream. 7/1/18. Nighttime lines return. Great people watching. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©   Click to enlarge

The Independence Day Parade will be on Wednesday, July 4, with “kickoff” at 10:30 am.  The CMA says that it will have “over 2,000 participants and thousands of onlookers.”

The parade begins on Whitefield Avenue and turns east along Main Avenue to Central Avenue, then turns north towards Ocean Pathway, then east again, ending along Ocean Avenue.

This year’s Grand Marshall is Ocean Grove historian and author Ted Bell.

At 7:30 pm there will be a Gordon Turk organ recital “Pipes and Stripes” in the Great Auditorium.

Editor’s  note:   As a music lover, I must point out that there is not a single real marching band in the parade according to the official line of march.   There will be some fifes, a bagpiper, drums, kazoos and the OG Summer Band.

The dearth of significant march music was noticed last year, and the list of participants indicates that it will be the same this year.  In addition there is no official military presence. A true 4th of July parade without ample music cannot be called   “One of the best parades in the Garden State.” as stated by the CMA’s official press release.

Nor can the CMA claim it to be, “The best Fourth of July Parade in America” as stated by the CMA.

If the CMA cannot afford to provide marching bands for this parade, then Neptune Township should help with the financing.  A parade filled with marching politicians, clubs,  police, firemen, businesses, and even the National Corn Growers Association can be disappointing and monotonous without marching band music.

If we can’t have a Sousa march by a marching band in our 4th of July parade, then maybe Sousa’s portrait should be removed from the Historical Society of OG in protest.

From Blogfinger here is  some real march music:

John Phillip Sousa:  “The Thunderer”

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