An Editorial
Editorial
Happy 4th of July!
By: Bob Mathews
It has been explained to us by someone who was there that a
group of veterans came together in Kenilworth Subdivision on
July 4, 1972 and began a tradition
that is still being carried on in our town.
The vets rode bicycles and riding lawnmowers out into the street that
day and into
Baton Rouge
history. They started what will soon become the 36th Annual
Independence Day Parade which is set to roll through
Kenilworth
on Thursday, July 3rd at
6:30
p.m.
No doubt some of the gentlemen who started
Baton Rouge’s only parade in celebration of
our nation’s birth were fueled by the same brand of “root beer” as Smiley
Anders and I enjoyed at the venerable old Pastime Lounge back in the
1960’s.
Historians report that it was
not tea those “Indians” were drinking either when they dumped a large cargo of
the makings for that beverage into
Boston
Harbor on the evening of
Thursday, December 16, 1773.
The Boston Tea Party sparked the American
Revolution that actually began with the signing of the Declaration of
Independence some two-and-one-half years later on
July 4th 1776.
It is also historically accurate that during the first
century and a half following our nation’s birth July 4th was the
most exciting time of the year in our country.
By comparison, Christmas was a much smaller event back then.
Of course merchants have changed all of that
so that we now begin celebrating Christmas before Halloween and the far less
profitable Independence Day has been reduced to second class status.
Fortunately, however, that is not the case in
Kenilworth which also conducts a beautiful Luminaires Celebration
that draws people from many miles away on the Sunday evening that starts
Christmas week each year.
Residents line
the curbs and sidewalks (yes, there are sidewalks in
Kenilworth)
with candles in paper bags in a beautiful display of community spirit and
togetherness that is a true reflection of the spirit of Christmas and Christian
values.
So Christmas is a big deal in
Kenilworth,
but so is Independence Day at the opposite end of the year.
It starts with Realtor Linda Fredericks and
her crew of hearty volunteers placing a small American flag in front of each of
the 815 homes in the subdivision.
This
is followed by the wonderful sound of motorcycle sirens and excited children
who line the parade route to catch candy and recycled Mardi Gras beads thrown
by the riders and walkers who mark the passage of another year of freedom for
our nation and its people.
Last year the
riders included the three leading candidates in the race for governor of our
state, and the eventual winner turned out to be a young man who actually grew
up in
Kenilworth.
Look, there are fancier subdivisions than Kenilworth where
you will find newer, bigger homes (with higher monthly notes than most people
in Kenilworth can afford), but you won’t find more of the spirit of neighborly
cooperation and togetherness than you will find in the subdivision where the
mayor of Baton Rouge and most of our elected officials and would-be elected
officials ride each year in a fulsome display of community pride.
If you come to our city’s only Independence
Day Parade this year you might be able to shake hands with a U.S. Senator or
two and you can meet one-to-one and face-to-face with many of the people who run
our town and our great state. And best of all you will be rubbing elbows with
the finest bunch of neighbors you’ll ever meet.
We salute the proud veterans who started the Kenilworth
Independence Day Parade, the Kenilworth Civic Association that sponsors the
event and the proud people who live in one of the finest places in the best
city in the
United States of
America.
God bless the people of
Kenilworth,
the City of
Baton Rouge,
the State of
Louisiana
and (while it may no longer be politically correct to say it) God Bless
America!
Happy 4th of July everyone!!!
