Kailua parade keeps neighborly feel
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Old fashioned patriotism was in full swing yesterday as thousands took to the streets of Kailua under sunny skies for the 58th Annual Fourth of July Parade.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
The event kicked off a day and night of festivities and fireworks, and featured everything from brass bands to bouncing acrobats. There were antique cars, mobile entertainers, carnival costumes, politicians, beauty queens, and decorated floats.
Darrell Large gave Aaron Ellingson, 3, of California, a flag at the 58th Annual Fourth of July Parade in Kailua yesterday. Though not the oldest or largest parade on the island, it prides itself on "keeping it Kailua."
The parade featured 93 units, said Clem Jung, the man in charge of communications for the event. That's fewer units than past parades, Jung said, "but the parade is bigger because the units are larger."
Bystanders were part of the action. Hellos, handshakes and handouts were freely disbursed on both sides of the parade line. Resident and spectator Dave Rolf handed out $2 bills.
"I carry a pack of them around," explained Rolf, who said he uses the currency as a way to drive home the message of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. "It's like a history lesson in a bill. It represents freedom."
Jefferson and other Founding Fathers are depicted on the bill, signing the Declaration of Independence. "That's what the Fourth of July is all about."
Yesterday, the loudest applause was reserved for veterans who took part in the parade.
Rich Pinto, parade chairman, said part of that is because Kailua's Fourth of July Parade has a neighborliness to it that's missing in other such events. "What makes it special is that it has kept it's small-town flavor. People say, 'Keep it Kailua.' That's what it is."
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
Yesterday marked the first time the parade had a 103-year-old grand marshal, Pinto said.
Warren Silva of Kailua took his 4-month-old son, Hunter, to the popular Kailua Fourth of July parade, which featured many veterans.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Frank Steer a veteran of two world wars, occupied the position with decorum, waiving to the crowds lining Kainalu Drive and garnering huge cheers throughout the mile-long route.
Steer, who rode in a 1943 Army jeep that looked as if it had just been driven off the assembly line, may have seen or been in more Kailua parades than anyone alive.
"I started walking in them years ago," said Steer, as he straightened his World War I French Legion of Honor medal he received in 1917. Next, he adjusted a string of medals adorning his Army hat.
"I've got so many medals I could run them around about three caps," said Steer, who also was in the Army and is the oldest living graduate of West Point, according to Army officials.
Steer, who held extraordinary authority as provost marshal in Hawai'i throughout much of World War II, including O'ahu's martial law period, said he'd gladly ride again in next year's parade.
"We'll put him in there," said Pinto. "He's an amazing guy. We might have another grand marshal, but we'll have an honorary grand marshal. We'll have him do that as long as he'd like to."
Retired Marine Sgt. Maj. Allan Kellogg, a Medal of Honor recipient, was in the vehicle behind Steer. In 1970, during the Vietnam War, Kellogg threw himself atop an enemy grenade, saving nine of his fellow Marines. More than one spectator saluted Kellogg, or shouted "Thank you."
Steer
Korean War veteran Samuel Suzuki was one of a group of about three dozen survivors of what has been called "the forgotten war" to march in the parade. Sadly, he said, the ranks are thinning at an ever increasing rate.
"More of them are dying every year," he said.
For as long as he and other survivors are able, though, they will be a part of the passing parade, he said.
