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Canonsburg loves a parade

5 min read
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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Canonsburg’s Fourth of July parade began with a flyover by the 911th Airlift Infantry.

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The Fourth of July parade emcee Fred Terling kicks things off at the grandstand along Pike Street in Canonsburg.

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Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome passes out candy to parade spectators Monday afternoon. This was the 59th Fourth of July parade.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The Ohio Valley Band traveled from McKees Rocks to perform in this year’s Canonsburg Fourth of July parade.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Local celebrity grand marshal Bobby Shawn waves to spectators along the route during Canonsburg’s annual Fourth of July parade. Shawn served as the parade emcee for years before stepping into the role of grand marshal this year.

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Polka music on parade: The International Button Box band brought upbeat music to crowds at the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade Monday.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Tripp Jones, 6, of Washington, waves a flag along the parade route Monday morning during Canonsburg’s Fourth of July parade. Jones and his mother Alexa Cowden attended the Fourth festivities for the first time this year.

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Chartiers-Houston's marching band led the high school bands in this year's Fourth of July parade. 

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Members of the Chartiers-Houston High School marching band have a ball performing in the Canonsburg Fourth of July Parade Monday morning. 

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Less marching, more riding for this member of the Chartiers-Houston marching band, who followed performers along Pike Street in Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Wyatt Pratt, 4, and his cousin Zane McClure, 6, wave to the firetrucks as they pass, sirens wailing, during the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade Monday. Pratt and McClure attended the parade with their parents and grandparents.

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Valencic Bros. and Friends entertain Fourth of July parade-goers with upbeat polka music in Canonsburg Monday. 

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Thousands lined the streets of Canonsburg Monday for the annual Fourth of July parade. Here, Range Resources’s float makes it way up Pike Street.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The New Orleans Riverside band plays on, all the way up Pike Street in Canonsburg, during the Fourth of July parade.

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A member of the New Orleans Riverside band plays his trumpet during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade. The band was one of several to entertain crowds Monday.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The Shriners are a fan favorite at Canonsburg’s Fourth of July parade. Every year, folks wait in anticipation for a Shriner to pop a wheelie down Pike Street.

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The first Canonsburg Fourth of July parade was commemorated with a horse-drawn float Monday, during the 59th annual parade.

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Some come for the floats, others come for the candy. An All Ways Safe parade participant handed out candy to parade-goers during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday.

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Naveah Elway, 4, and her sister Noella Elway, 1, scramble to collect candy during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday. The sisters attended the parade with their aunt, Jennifer Campbell, of McDonald, and Campbell's daughter Makenzi, behind them.

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Four Coins member James Gregorakis and his girlfriend, Pat Braddock-Steiner, enjoy the parade from their usual spot in front of the local laundromat. Gregorakis twice served as the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade grand marshal and said he enjoys attending every July 4.

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A parade-goer rushes to say hello to the Grinch, who manned the Canonsburg Old Fashioned Christmas float alongside Santa Claus Monday in the Fourth of July parade.

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The Fourth gets a little grinchy as the Grinch himself rides along Pike Street in Canonsburg. The Grinch was part of Canonsburg's Old Fashioned Christmas float.

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Pristinely-kept old cars like this one received makeovers ahead of the Fourth of July parade in Canonsburg.

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Crowds were wowed as a Synergy dancer throws herself through the air. Synergy was one of several local dance organizations to take part in Monday's Canonsburg Fourth of July parade.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The crowd erupts in applause as a Synergy dancer tumbles along Pike Street in Canonsburg Monday.

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A horse-drawn hearse clip-clops down Pike Street Monday as part of the Fourth of July festivities. Sollon Funeral Home Ltd. was Canonsburg Fourth of July parade sponsor.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Delilah Russo dances on Pike Street during last year’s Fourth of July parade in Canonsburg. Russo attended the annual parade with her mother, Alexis Russo, and her grandmother, Elania Russo.

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A local church sings its ways down Pike Street during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade.

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Parade-goers lined Pike Street to cheer, snap photos and record the Canon-McMillan High School marching band perform in the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade. Canon-McMillan was the last high school band to appear in this year's lineup.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Mark Falvo, director of the Canon-McMillan High School Big Mac Band, waves to spectators as his band plays on during the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade.

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A member of the Big Mac Band plays his way down Pike Street during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday.

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A member of the Big Mac Band has a ball performing in Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday.

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Jessica Schulenberg wraps her friend Beth Ludwin, co-chair of the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade committee, in a hug as the parade comes to a close Monday morning. Every year, Schulenberg passes a bag of cherries to Ludwin at the end of the morning's festivities.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Nicole Killion and her son, Kane Killion, 3, arrive early to Canonsburg’s Fourth of July parade for front-row seats. This year’s event marked Kane’s first Canonsburg parade.

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The Canonsburg Fourth of July parade was in full swing as the official starting sign passed the grandstand Monday morning.

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Dylan Peroso's favorite holiday is the Fourth of July. This year, he passed down the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade tradition to his youngest son, 6-month-old Braxton, who sports a "My 1st Fourth of July" shirt - which is nearly as festive as his father's getup.

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Kids rush onto Pike Street to meet the Pirate Parrot during Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday morning.

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Brayden Pace, 5, of Cranberry; Preston Aloia, 3, of Bethel Park; Brielle Pace, 7; and Elena Aloia, 3, have front-row seats to Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade. The four had a blast blowing bubbles and collecting candy Monday morning.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

The Chartiers-Houston Charettes skip down Pike Street during Canonsburg’s Fourth of July parade Monday.

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Austin Dami, a 2015 Canon-McMillan graduate, sports an incredibly patriotic outfit at Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday.

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Gabrielle Warman, 9; Addison Hall, 9; and Matthew Campbell, 10, sell lemonade and Kool-Aid at the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade. The three entrepreneurial friends decided to have fun and earn a little extra cash during this year's festivities.

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Crowds gather along Pike Street for Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade Monday.

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A horse-drawn float celebrates the first-ever Canonsburg Fourth of July parade Monday, during the 59th-annual event.

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Mary Sabol and her husband Andrew Sabol relax in the shade after the 59th Canonsburg Fourth of July parade. Sabol, a Canon-McMillan graduate, said he attends the parade nearly every year, but this was Mary's first time at Canonsburg's big bash.

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Rocky Balboa cools off in a doggie - and kiddie - pool before the start of Canonsburg's Fourth of July parade. Rocky's owner Josh Edwards set up the cooling station for neighbors and parade-goers Monday.

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Alexa Terrell and Tynessa Reese, both of Canonsburg, were in the Fourth of July spirit Monday. Both women never miss a parade, and both had a blast dancing to the music during the Fourth of July parade downtown.

CANONSBURG – Chairs decorated Canonsburg’s downtown Saturday, and crowds thronged the sidewalks Monday morning for the 59th Canonsburg Fourth of July Parade, the second-largest Independence Day parade in Pennsylvania.

“I’ve been doing this forever. I was in the first parade, I believe,” said Monica Saporita, of Peters Township.

“It’s bigger, a lot bigger, a lot more people,” Saporita, who marched as a Brownie and a Girl Scout before ending her parade career with the Chartiers-Houston marching band in 1968, said of this year’s parade. “It’s still a great way to spend the Fourth. It’s community coming together. I still look forward to seeing the Chartiers band.”

Folks clapped to the beat as the Chartiers-Houston High School marching band passed by, the first high school band to make an appearance in this year’s parade. The Canon-McMillan High School marching band ended the parade with a bang; spectators stood and danced to the tune of the blue and gold.

The two high school bands weren’t the only music that brought people to their feet. Upbeat polka music by the Valencic Brothers and Friends band and the International Button Box band rang through Canonsburg, and several dance organizations blared party tunes from the backs of vans while dancers stepped in time, tumbled, and sailed through the air to the crowd’s amazement.

“I enjoy everything about the Fourth of July. Look at this town: How can you miss it?” said Dylan Pareso, a 2012 Canon-McMillan grad who attended the parade with his family and children. This year’s parade was his six-month-old son Braxton’s first.

“You just have to pass traditions down,” Pareso said.

Tradition seemed to be this year’s theme. Edye Coen, a Houston resident who grew up attending the parade, introduced three of her six great-great grandchildren to Canonsburg’s big Fourth of July bash. And it was tradition that brought Mikiya Comfort, of Washington, to Canonsburg Monday morning.

Comfort said she’s always enjoyed Fourth festivities. This year, she was accompanied by her wife, Jenna Comfort, and their 7-week-old daughter, Journee, who seemed to enjoy the sights and sounds of the big parade.

“For us, starting her out early will help her have lots of memories to look back on,” said Mikiya Comfort.

Memories were certainly made Monday: Kids of all ages gawked as the 911th Airlift Wing flew low over the crowds at 10 a.m., signaling the start of the parade. Horses clip-clopped down the road; firetrucks sounded their sirens and candy rained through the air from glittery floats.

“He loves it. He’s ready for the candy,” laughed Nicole Killion, a Chartiers-Houston resident who has attended the parade her whole life.

Killion brought her son, Kane, to the parade for the first time this year.

“The whole atmosphere, the people,” are what makes the parade, Killion said.

Like Kane Killion, Mary Sabol attended the parade for the first time this year with her husband Andrew Sabol, a Canon-McMillan graduate who maintains the Big Mac Band is the best part of the day.

Mary was impressed.

“Straight parade energy,” she laughed. “Everybody’s into it.”

Cindy Naser was into it, too. She watched the units – there were 120 this year – roll by and kids dash for bubblegum and lollipops from her home on Pike Street.

Naser has attended the parade for “pretty much forever,” she smiled.

“We’ve got front row seats for the parade and fireworks,” Naser said. “The whole day is exciting.”

The excitement of it all – the large crowds, the folks cooking out, enjoying cold drinks and a variety of treats along the parade route, the floats and the music and the dancing – is catching.

“Watching everybody have fun … is like my favorite thing,” said Jessica Campbell of McDonald, who brought her nieces to the parade.

This year’s emcee was local Fred Terling, who stepped into the role last year. The former emcee, singer and entertainer Bobby Shawn, served as the local grand marshal.

Local newscaster Elena LaQuatra was this year’s celebrity grand marshal.

For those unable to make it downtown, or those beating the heat, this year, the parade was livestreamed start to finish.

And even though she loves every moment, for Jessica Schulenberg of Canonsburg, the parade’s end is always a special moment. Every year she rushes into the street to pass a bag of cherries to her friend Beth Ludwin, who co-chairs the parade committee with her brother Jeff Shashinsky.

“She always asks, ‘How was it?'” Schulenberg laughed. “I get so proud of her.”

This parade is something Canonsburg is proud of, an event that brings people from near and far together for a morning of uninterrupted fun.

“Everybody’s laughing and smiling,” James Gregorakis, a former Four Coin and two-time grand marshal, said with a smile. “They have a good time.”

Following the parade, Town Park Pool was open at no charge, and folks cooled off in the blue waters, challenged themselves at the rock climbing wall and tossed around free floaties while bands performed in the Main Pavilion.

“It’s just great that the town gets together,” said Jeff Shinshasky. “It just explodes with fun and festivities all day.”

The Fourth of July came to a fantastic end at 10 p.m., when the Zambelli Fireworks show dazzled spectators downtown. The display was streamed live for the first time, so even those exhausted after a day of fun could tune in for the colorful last hurrah.

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