Carlsbad Independence Day parade, fireworks display a success
It was an excellent Independence Day weekend celebration in Carlsbad, despite the apparent tradition of challenges with the rain and wind.
On Saturday night, we had a dinner for the sponsors of our “Liberty and Legacy” event. We also invited this year's “legacies”- Carlsbad residents who were nominated for special recognition. Billi Grandi gave a very special tribute to his fellow members of the Silver Creek Band: Chuck Thompson, Paul Thompson, Don Thompson and Tish Linville Garland. Hall of fame musician Sonny Throckmorton received a plaque recognizing July 3, 2022, as “Sonny Throckmorton Day.”
Throckmorton and the Orange Beach Band were also our headliners on Sunday, which also included great performances by the River Bed and Mariachi Unido as well as DJ services by G Money and Malory Anaya. Our Legacies this year received a special boat ride, which was followed by the Chamber of Commerce’s Electric Boat Parade, which began after 9 p.m.
On Monday, Carlsbad put on the largest parade that anyone has seen in years. Thanks to Kat Davis with Carlsbad MainStreet, Lupe Ornelas, and everyone who helped organize this parade. The parade concluded at the courthouse lawn, where a ceremony was held to honor WWII and Korean War era veterans. Thank you to Danny Fletcher, the Carlsbad Veterans Honor Guard, Sarah Cordova, Rhonda Hatch and Destry McDonald. Many other individuals, including members of our law enforcement community, Joy Springer. Jeri Strong and Steve Angel, made this ceremony special.
It wouldn’t be an Independence Day celebration without a storm. Heavy rains and winds hit Carlsbad at around 2 p.m. Monday, causing damage across town. This included damage to our sound system at the bandshell area. It looked like we were going to have to cancel all of our music on Monday. Thankfully, one of our bands, Grupo Maldad, worked a miracle and was able to provide a backup system. Maldad, Last Child and Grupo Veneno all did a fantastic job on Monday, as did our DJ’s- Jose Ornelas and Trey Gonsalez.
Another storm was approaching Carlsbad about an hour before our fireworks show was planned, but the clouds took a sudden turn east just before they hit Carlsbad. We had another fantastic fireworks show in Carlsbad, thanks to Precision Fireworks and the Carlsbad Fire Department. Thanks to Eddy County for helping support this effort.
In fact, thank you to all of the City of Carlsbad employees who worked so hard to make Independence Day so special – this includes our parks and public works department, solid waste, planning department, facility maintenance, transit, the water park, Riverwalk Recreation Center, police department, fire department and executive department. Thank you as well to our event chair, Danny Fletcher, who did an excellent job as always. We also want to thank our vendors, who provided so many food and merchandise options at the beach area.
Independence Day is a very special celebration for many Carlsbad residents, but word has also gotten out and this year’s celebration drew a large number of guests from out of town. We look forward to celebrating an even bigger event next year.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad Independence Day parade, fireworks display a success
