Freedom rings on the 4th

The event that has become a city icon returns Tuesday, and the 102nd annual Fourth of July Parade is shaping up to be an emotional affair.

This year’s theme, “Freedom for All,” will be a tough one for many, said Mary-Ellen Cianciabella, co-chair of the Fourth of July Executive Board that oversees arrangements for the parade.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone whose loved ones cannot be with them on July 4 because they’re fighting for us so we may have freedom,” she said.

At the same time, she’s also excited about actress Shirley Jones and her husband Marty Ingles coming to the parade, Cianciabella confesses.

“I go back in time with her to when my family and I watched ‘The Partridge Family,’” she said of Jones’ role in the popular 1970s sitcom.

The parade is set to include festivities spread over three days starting Sunday with the Pier Plaza Fun Expo at Main and Pacific Coast Highway, a home decorating contest, pancake breakfast at Lake Park, the Surf City 5K Run and Fitness Expo, and a spectacular “Fireworks Over the Ocean” show at the pier to end the holiday.

The two-and-a-half hour parade on the Fourth of July will start on Pacific Coast Highway near Eighth Street before entering Main Street and ending past Yorktown Avenue on Main.

‘Staking out’ by visitors on Main Street is not permitted until Monday at 7 a.m., said Laurie Payne, city spokesperson.

Along with celebrity grand marshals Jones and Ingels, Huntington Beach’s Vi Cowden and Arlene Huff Howard have been selected as the Citizen Grand Marshal and Community Grand Marshal, respectively.

Cowden, 89, served as a Woman Air Force Service Pilot, or WASP, and recently went skydiving to celebrate her birthday.

Howard, a Huntington Beach history buff, hails from the family that once owned land on which the Shipley Nature Center now sits.

Brigadier Gen. James P. Combs, Brigadier General Ellen Pawlikoski and Major General Terrill K. Moffett are set to be the military grand marshals.

Scarlett Pomers, better known as Naomi Wildman on “Star Trek: Voyager,” is the celebrity teen grand marshal.

Three-time U.S. Open beach volleyball champion Randy Stoklos will be the sports grand marshal.

Last year, about 250,000 people attended the Fourth festivities, said Connie Young, who is handling publicity for the parade.

But the most anticipated event of the festivities is the fireworks show by Zambelli Fireworks.

“The parade is obviously big, but everyone looks forward to the fireworks,” Young said.

Music for the fireworks spectacle will be broadcast over the radio on K-EARTH 101 FM for the first time.

“For people who are somewhere else on the beach or Main Street, they could hear the music over the radio and watch the fireworks,” Young said.

Pier seating tickets for the fireworks show are available for $20 each, or 3 for $50. The show is free for public viewing from the sand.

In addition, tickets to watch the parade from the bleachers or the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast at Lake Park are available.

The Pier Plaza Fun Expo will feature vendors on the pier selling arts and crafts items, and lots of memorabilia.

Surf City USA T-shirts, baseball-style hats and commemorative pins for the Fourth of July will be available at all six Albertsons stores in Huntington Beach, Joe Shaw’s California Greetings store on Main Street and Combest General Store in Bella Terra mall.

INDEPENDENCE ENTERTAINMENT