BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro's 2011 Independence Day celebration will honor the community's spirit of cooperation in the face of recent challenge with this year's theme, “Together, We Go Fourth.”
All events are free and will happen rain or shine.
The town's 38th annual July 4 event will begin at 10 a.m. with a parade along Canal and Main streets to the town Common, featuring:
• Members of the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association and Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, who will lead the march as a symbol of local solidarity and a living reminder of the holiday's origin, the Declaration of Independence and its central theme that all are created equal.
The Interfaith and Diversity marchers will be joined by a “Chorus of the Community” directed by local musician Peter Amidon. Anyone interested in singing can log onto www.amidonmusic.com/Fourth or attend a rehearsal on July 1 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Brattleboro's Centre Congregational Church at 193 Main St.
• Grand marshal Alfred Hughes Jr., longtime local personality and former resident of the recently burned Brooks House.
• The Brattleboro Fire Department, and nearby units from Vermont and New Hampshire, that battled the Brooks House blaze.
• And employees of the Marina Restaurant, who led last year's parade two days after fire destroyed their own building and will return in this year's “Love Train Soul Train Line Dance Finale” (co-sponsored by WTSA Radio, run by the family of parade founding father J. Wayne Corbeil) to celebrate resilience and their summer reopening.
More than 50 other entries - including the Brattleboro American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School bands, veterans and civic and youth groups - will appear in divisions that “Honor the Past,” “Celebrate the Community” and “Welcome the Future.”
To promote safety, all skateboarders, bicyclists and other riders of self-propelled devices must wear helmets.
After the parade, the town Recreation & Parks Department will offer a series of public concerts, sporting events and family activities at Living Memorial Park just off Western Avenue and Interstate 91 Exit 2 from 1 p.m. to the start of fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
Highlights include the homegrown Stockwell Brothers “newgrass” and contemporary folk trio from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m.; children's entertainer T-Bone at 6:30 p.m.; and New England native Peter Miles and his rock, funk, blues and jazz band from 7:45 to 9:30 p.m.
A full listing of festivities is available on the website www.brattleborogoesfourth.com. For more information, e-mail brattleborogoesfourth@gmail.com or call 802-254-5437.