Standing room only

Each Fourth of July is Donnie Erickson’s chance to shine.

An annual tradition since he can remember, the 11-year-old Smith Elementary School student spends the night before each Independence

Day decorating his grey Mongoose bicycle with confetti, banners and

red, white and blue streamers. Two American flags stand at attention

on each of his handlebars.

“It’s so much fun because everyone shouts ‘Hi’ to me when I ride

down the street,” he said. “I’m famous like a movie star.”

After 101 years of tradition, Huntington Beach kicked off its 2005

Fourth of July parade without any major glitches. Despite the 250

entries and the 150,000 people in attendance, the parade continues to

keep its neighborly feel and patriotic theme.

“Huntington Beach is a big city that likes to think it’s still a

small town,” Fountain Valley resident Margie Mayers said. “For today,

we’ll just keep pretending. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone.”

Many parade viewers said they come to the parade each year to

enjoy a taste of Americana that is increasing hard to find in

Southern California.

“Where else can you hear the mayor sing the National Anthem and

God Bless America?” said Petrie Simons, referring to Mayor Jill

Hardy’s performance at a gala dinner the night before. “It’s not

quite Mayberry, but it’s not quite Newport Beach either. It’s our

town.”

As usual, the biggest crowd pleasers were the city’s military

representatives. The Air National Guard band and a float carrying

Vietnam veterans received large applause, while groups of Pearl

Harbor survivors received an ongoing standing ovation down the length

of the route.

“Those guys are studs,” Mike Lyons said from a Main Street front

yard where he was enjoying a beer.

The most emotional response from parade-watchers was for the

city’s “Thundering Third,” a Marine battalion out of Camp Pendleton

formally adopted by the City Council earlier this year. As a

contingent of the Marines marched down the 3 1/2 -mile parade route,

people stood at attention, waved and even saluted the Marines, many

of whom have served in Iraq.

As always, the crowd was thick, with some people standing four to

five deep to catch a glimpse of the action. Musical floats prompted

viewers to dance and sing along. A favorite was the city’s Interfaith

Council float, with Father Christian Mondor of Saints Simon and Jude

Catholic Church strumming a classic folk melody on his banjo to stir

up the audience.

After the parade wound down and many visitors left, others chose

to stay Downtown and hop around to various barbecues and frontyard

parties.

Come sunset, a massive throng of people convened on the Huntington

Beach Pier to watch the fireworks show, which was shot off the pier

this year after last year’s show from a barge failed to impress many

in the crowd.

“It was 10 times better” this year, said Terri Preston, who

attended the show with her twin daughters Farah and Dawn. “Very

impressive -- the way fireworks in Huntington Beach should be done.”

By 10:30 p.m., the city was nearly cleared out and cleaning crews

began working to remove the tons of trash the crowd left behind.

With the Fourth of July set to fall in the middle of the week

until 2008, many expect this year’s parade to be the biggest of its

kind for several years.