This Saturday, Healdsburg will offer family activities from dawn to dusk, beginning with an early morning pancake breakfast and concluding with a half hour of fireworks after the sun goes down.
The day begins with the traditional Scout Troop 21 pancake breakfast at Villa Chanticleer. It’s only $9 for adults and $6 for kids for a hearty breakfast of pancakes with real maple syrup plus scrambled eggs, fruit and beverage choice of milk, juice or coffee. It takes place from 7am to noon. Scouts and adult volunteers—including the Kiwanis Club—host the event, and proceeds support youth activities.
After breakfast, or instead, visit the Healdsburg Farmers’ Market in the Foley Family Community Pavilion, from 8:30am to noon. Fruit and vegetable vendors will offer their abundance, along with prepared foods and crafts. New this year, check out the cakewalk from 9:30-10:30am, a musical-chairs-type game for all ages. Market vendors are baking cakes, and anyone can join a game and try to win a cake.
The Plaza comes alive with family activities from 10am to 1pm with the annual Fourth of July celebration, including the Kids’ Parade and the Duck Dash. The event is kid-centric: There will be games, and face painting hosted by Corazón Healdsburg, along with the traditional Duck Dash races. The dashes start atop an elevated flume and end in the Plaza’s fountain. Anyone can enter a rubber duck.
Children are encouraged to join the Kids’ Parade, which kicks off at noon and circles the Plaza. Prizes are awarded for pet costumes.
At the dunk tank, the first volunteer “dunkee” will be Healdsburg Mayor Chris Herrod. Other council members may join him in the water tank for some cooling fun.
The City and Sunrise Rotary have adopted the national motto for the event: “E Pluribus Unum”—Out of Many, One. A map of the world will be hung in the Plaza and all who attend are invited to use stickers to mark their own place or places of family origin.
Sunrise Rotary will offer hot dogs, street corn, snow cones and popcorn to all, free of charge. Music includes the Healdsburg Community Band and a band of local lawyers and judges called Courtin’ Disaster.
Things calm down during the afternoon, as people rest up and find their places for the annual fireworks show. Once again, the City is partnering with American Legion Post 111 and the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District for the annual Independence Day fireworks show, held as usual at Healdsburg High School.
Due to the size of this year’s show and the anticipation of a large audience, safety is a priority, and the high school sports field will be closed aside from pyrotechnicians. Chairs can be set up at Fitch Mountain School and surrounding areas. University and Monte Vista will be closed to traffic.
The fireworks show should start about 9:30pm, and usually continues until 10pm. The fireworks can be seen for a few blocks, so look for spots that have a good view of the sky above the high school. See information about road closures and good viewing areas at healdsburg.gov/fireworks.
FAMILY HOLIDAY ‘Happy Birthday America’ seems to be the theme of this family in the Kids Parade, which usually provides the highlight of Healdsburg’s Fourth of July celebration.
