Elbow Grease Results in Spectacular Floats

Appropriately, more than 100 groups will march down East Ridgewood Avenue to mark the village's centennial celebration of American independence. The Ridgewood Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, Jamboree members, U.S. Congressman Scott Garrett, and countless others will gallivant through the village in Ridgewood's 100th Fourth of July Parade today starting at 10 a.m.

Preparing throughout this year—and 2009—nearly 120 organizations plan to parade through Ridgewood Monday morning.

As per tradition, the village's elementary schools have prepared floats for the festivities.

"We've been working every night this week, and we wanted to appropriately honor the tradition," said Heather Vimba, a Travell mom and five-year parade float creator.

Each year, the Home and School Associations for the six village elementary schools offer individual floats. Vimba—with her husband, the DeVita family and more than 20 volunteers—worked tirelessly to present an appropriate offering for the village school.

With more than 100 Travell-ites marching today, the 2010 float depicts Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware River to fight the British troops. Vimba said the Travell float makers recreated an original 1910 float. Although the initial offering featured a horse-drawn carriage, Vimba and Co. replicated the 100-year-old float as best it could.

"We have a truck pulling a boat with Washington in it, and have horse cut-outs line the trucks," she said.

True, two equines won't pull the Travell baggage, but (false) horses—identically colored—will draw the general through downtown Ridgewood. 

At the village's summer day camp, kids have gotten in on the action, as well. On Friday, campers prepped so they could march in the centennial parade. At Maple Park Field, third grade girls decorated their bikes for a patriotic ride through Ridgewood.

Although parents from Somerville Elementary don't have the history Travell does, its parents have worked just as hard.

Before last year's parade, mothers Elise Creegan and Susan Enright returned the village school to Independence Day marching after a five-year departure.

Creegan, who grew up in Ridgewood and attended school at Mt. Carmel, wanted to bring the parade back to Somerville kids. For their second-year float, they sought to give the people what they asked for. 

"We're happy to be part of it. Last year, we wanted to rebuild the tradition," she said.

Creegan and Enright have worked with "seven or eight core people since January" and sold T-shirts to fundraise their effort. As the parade approach this week—and the Somerville parents finished their float—they talked about their progress.

"We thought we were doing great, but we looked at the list we have and there's still some stuff to do," she said. "We're not quite as far as we want to be, but we should be good by Monday."

This year, the Somerville folks sough to give people the best of the best.

"We want to show people things that they enjoy," she said. "If you talk to people who grew up here and come back, they say so much is the same. There's certain things you look for at the parade... [Our float] tried to give it to them."

The parade, which stars at North Monroe and Godwin streets, winds through the central business district and culminates at Graydon Pool.

For a detailed schedule, click here.

For more information, visit the Fourth of July Committee's website.