Strutting its independence

The Independence City showed its love for Independence Day with two parades, a lunch for dignitaries and a batch of barbecues against a backdrop of red, white and blue.

Ralston calls itself the Independence City out of patriotism and glee that the town, cupped on three sides by Omaha, hasn't succumbed to annexation.

“We never say Fourth of July,” four-term Ralston Mayor Don Groesser said at the lunch he threw Saturday. “We say Independence Day.”

If a Ralston councilman uses the term “Fourth of July” during a council meeting, City Attorney Mark Klinker clangs a bell in reprimand, Groesser said.

On this Fourth of July — ahem — Independence Day, the activities in Ralston began with a morning children's parade.

Riding bicycles and tricycles, pushed in strollers and pulled in wagons, dozens of kids went down Main Street, then circled back in front of Syzzlyn Skillet and Ralston Automotive, headed from whence they had come.

A sign on the back of one little wagon read: “Happy 4th of July From Meghan and Emma.” Meghan and Emma Gallagher had vacated their vehicle for pop and popcorn.

Tommy Mouser, 4, wore a red, white and blue top hat and had red and blue stars painted on his cheeks. Tommy lives in Des Moines, but his grandparents, Lynda and Marv Overman, live in Ralston. “We come every Fourth of July, don't we, Tommy?” said his dad, Tom Mouser.

Then people hung out at the town plaza or geared up for the big parade, for which people put out blankets and folding chairs more than two hours in advance. Many hung flags and banners from windows and fences.

John White, a trombone player in the Ralston Middle School band, walked down the street selling small flags for $1 apiece. The cash went to Ralston school marching bands.

Courtney Fraser carried her clarinet as she headed toward the start of the parade, where she would march with her Ralston High School band. Asked about her town's passion for Independence Day, she said: “We're always really, I guess, independent.”

Smoke rose from many frontyard barbecues along the parade route. Steve Ray made the additional effort of putting an electronic “Happy July 4th” sign in his window and, for even greater effect, parked a red '56 Chevy and a red '68 Torino on his front lawn.

Barbecue sizzled at Trinity United Methodist Church. The church band Holy Ground played. Inside, Groesser threw a lunch for such invitees as Gov. Dave Heineman and Nebraska's U.S. senators, Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns.

Groesser said this was the 49th year for the parade in a town that will be 100 years old in 2012.

The parade was too big for one marshal. And so the grand marshal was Bill White, who retired as a Ralston police officer and chief Saturday at midnight, and the parade marshal was letter-carrier Larry Schroder. Schroder was named Ralston Citizen of the Year for volunteering in church and chalking and dragging Orval Smith ballfield.

Finally the parade began, the participants traipsing along before Ralston residents stacked four and five deep along Independence Avenue. Brad Feagins wore plastic antlers tipped with red stars, an accessory he blamed on wife Tricia. No apologies were necessary for anything red, white or blue on Independence Day in Ralston.

Contact the writer:

444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com