Change Means You Can Still March In July 4th Parade

Red, white and blue beads will fly and American flags will wave as the community comes together for the annual Temple Terrace July 4 parade.

If you want to be in the parade but missed the June 7 application deadline, you’re in luck. The Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the morning parade and evening fireworks with the City of Temple Terrace, has extended the deadline to Friday, June 14.

Applications are available on the chamber’s website. The fee is $35 for nonprofit organizations and $50 for all others.

“If you have live music, you can call and (the cost) might be free,” said Barbara Sparks-McGlinchy, the chamber’s executive director.

Reach the chamber at 813-989-7004.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Gillette Avenue and Whiteway Drive. It will head south on Gillette, west on Druid Hills, then south on Ridgedale Road to the Ridgedale Sports Complex near Temple Terrace Elementary School. The route is two miles.

This year, the parade’s grand marshall is Maj. Gen. Luis Visot, the executive director of the USF Joint Military Science Leadership Center, a program that is designed to enhance the quality of reserve officers training programs for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. Visot’s wife, Dr. Cindy Visot, chief of Staff and director of the Board of Trustees at USF, will accompany him.

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At 7 p.m., the community is invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs to the first fairway of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club where there will be a variety of food and beverages available for purchase.

Mr. Grumpy Band, a rock group, will provide entertainment from 7 to 9 p.m., and performers from Masque Community Theatre will also entertain.

The annual event always culminates with the fireworks display, which can also be seen from the first fairway of the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club. The fireworks are expected to start around 9:15 p.m.

The event is a fun tradition for the community, but it comes with a hefty price tag. The cost for the whole shebang is close to $25,000, and the fireworks are the most expensive item.

If you’d like to donate to “Light Up the Sky,” the program that raises money for the fireworks, call the chamber at 813-989-7004.

Sponsors for the festivities include: 

Presidential-Title sponsor

• Ward Seaford, Attorneys at Law

Congressional sponsors

• Bulluck Law Group
• Tampa Electric Company

Patron sponsors

• Pilot Bank
• Law Offices of Jack Townsend
• Watts Dawson & Associates Insurance
• PNC Bank
• MCC Marketing Group
• Tampa Bay Business Journal
• Fifth Third Bank
• Tampa Tribune

Benefactor sponsor

• Olde World Cheese Shop