Canonsburg Fourth of July parade includes plane flyover
Rory Kochman, 5, of Canonsburg waves her flag during the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade.
One of many musical floats in Tuesday’s Fourth of July parade in Canonsburg
A member of the New Orleans Riverside Band performs during Tuesday’s Fourth of July parade.
For the second time in its 55-year history, the Canonsburg Fourth of July parade opened Tuesday with a military flyover.
The parade was dedicated to first responders, and held in memory of Canonsburg police officer Scott Bashioum, who was killed in November in an ambush when he responded to a domestic situation.
At 10 a.m., a C-130 aircraft from the 911th Airlift Wing made a pass along the parade route from about 1,000 feet.
“The flyover was very emotional; it was very moving,” said Ellie Kiger of Waynesburg, who attended the parade with her daughter, Sara Fleming of Washington and 2-year-old granddaughter Nora Fleming. “We liked the fact that the parade was a tribute to the fallen police officer. We have a relative who is a police officer, and they deserve recognition, along with firefighters and other first responders.”
Bashioum’s parents and children, wearing Pittsburgh Pirates jerseys, rode along the parade route and watched the parade, which featured more than 100 units, from the grandstand.
Midway through the parade, Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome paid tribute to Bashioum, thanking the police officer’s family for Bashioum’s dedication and service.
“This was wonderful, if you can call something like this wonderful,” said Bashioum’s father, Leslie, who thanked the community, the borough and police chief Alex Coghill, who he said he thinks of as another son. “It was great to see all the people who turned out for it. It’s an amazing thing. It is a great honor for our son to be thought of this way. It was a tremendous crowd, people clapped and gave us the thumbs up. But this is tough, it’s exhausting for us. I just don’t want people to leave here and forget about it. We all just need to respect one another, and that’s missing today. People don’t have respect for one another or the law anymore, and we need that.”
Canonsburg’s Fourth of July festivities kicked off with the annual Whiskey Rebellion 5K run, and by 9 a.m., throngs of spectators had lined up along Pike Street.
In keeping with tradition, hundreds of chairs had been placed along the parade route 48 hours before it kicked off.
Other spectators set up pop-up tents in grassy areas and in parking lots on Pike Street, while a few watched from loftier vantage points, including balconies on homes along the street.
Churches and organizations sold nachos, hot dogs, fruit cups, breakfast sandwiches and beverages to paradgoers in search of a snack or cold drink on a hot, sunny day where the temperature reached 80 degrees.
The Canonsburg Fourth of July parade is believed to be the second-largest Independence Day parade in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia’s event. It is difficult to determine the definite number of attendees, but police estimate around 40,000 people turn out for the event.
The Canonsburg parade represents small-town America at its finest, and this year’s parade did not disappoint. The parade included several floats, local high school marching bands, polka bands, bagpipers, unicyclists, classic cars, politicians and the Shriners, who performed tricks on three-wheelers and mini-bikes, much to the crowd’s delight.
A group of re-enactors from Washington County Historical Society, wearing 18th century clothing, shot muskets.
KDKA-TV’s Kristin Emery served as the parade’s grand marshal, and Rhome presented her with a basket of Sarris chocolates.
Military veterans and first responders, including about two dozen police cars that trailed the Bashioum family, received the biggest cheers.
Traditional red, white and blue dominated Tuesday’s parade, with paradegoers spray-painting their hair in patriotic colors and wearing red, white and blue hats, beads and clothes.
Mark Cameron of Carnegie brought his son, Andrew, 9, and daughter, Nattaya, 7, to watch the parade, which lasted more than two hours.
“It’s always nice. They love the parade,” said Cameron. “There’s tons of candy and floats and a lot to see.”
Canonsburg held festivities throughout the day. Events included free admission to Town Park pool, activities for children and live music. Skydivers landed in Canon-McMillan stadium and fireworks will go off at 10 p.m.