As the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley slowly reopen after a year of closures due to the pandemic, a series of events have been scheduled to celebrate the Fourth of July.
While the city’s annual Spirit of Watsonville Parade has once again been canceled, a number of other, safer alternatives will be held. This includes the Watsonville Neighborhood Parade, where residents show their spirit by decorating homes and businesses all over the city.
Starting Thursday and running through the Fourth on Sunday, families have been able to take a tour around the city to all the different locations, most of which are listed on a map here. Businesses participating include Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, JD Wireless, Panther Protective Services and Cheeses Jam Co.
Shaz Roth, CEO of the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, was busy Tuesday decorating the front of her business on Brennan Street.
“This is great for community spirit,” she said. “It shows support for our city and our neighbors.”
Watsonville resident Maria Carranco was decorating the front yard and garage of her home on Martinelli Street with her two young grandsons Wednesday morning. She admitted that they normally do not decorate much for the Fourth of July, but that they felt inspired to participate.
“This kind of thing is new for us—we’re not super decorators,” Carranco said. “But we haven’t had a lot of interaction with the community for so long … So this is kind of like a grand opening, in the spirit of Fourth of July. It’s great to have the kids participate, too.”
On Sunday the city will host the July 4th Mayor’s Bike Ride. People are invited to join Mayor Jimmy Dutra, plus representatives from Bike Santa Cruz County, the Friends of Watsonville Parks and Community Services, the city and Santa Cruz Metro for a bike ride around the city to see the decorated buildings.
Riders will meet in the alleyway between the Watsonville Post Office and the Second Street Parking Garage downtown at 12:45pm. One of Metro’s new electric buses will lead the way; it will be available to anyone who does not want to ride a bike.
Come early around noon to help decorate the bus and bikes. Prizes will be awarded to the “most spirited” adult and youth riders.
“I hope that people are excited to be interacting with each other once again,” Dutra said. “Being able to get back out with the community and celebrate in a safe way … while showing our community pride. I hope people will get into the spirit.”
Two more events are planned for Sunday. The Red, White and Blue concert in the City Plaza, featuring the Watsonville Community Band, will kick off at 2pm with a set of patriotic songs. Around the same time, look to the skies for a special Fourth of July aeronautic flyover.
Nick Calubaquib, the city Parks and Community Services Department Director, said that organizing all of the city’s special events this year has been particularly challenging.
“We’ve lost a lot of full-time and part-time positions over the past year,” he said. “Our team of full time employees is currently over 20% smaller than before the pandemic … So we are all wearing multiple hats to hold everything together. It’s exciting that our special events are coming back, but it can be very stressful.”
Add to this the much smaller window of time to plan the events around ever-changing Covid-19 guidelines, such as big events like the Strawberry Festival, which usually take a year to plan.
“Things were up in the air for a long time,” Dutra said. “Our city manager was very cautious back when decisions were to be made … and it takes several months to plan these kinds of things. But we’re getting there. Hopefully these events signal the beginning of a new normal.”
Added Calubaquib: “Although we’re facing many challenges, our goal is still to create quality events that provide exceptional experiences for our community. We hope that these events help our community heal from the loss and challenges caused by the pandemic and provide a venue to celebrate our resiliency, diversity and a bright future ahead.”
For information about the Fourth of July celebrations, visit cityofwatsonville.org.
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These homes and businesses are decorated in patriotic parade float style:
- 771 Freedom Blvd.
- 136 Clifford Ave.
- 433 East Lake Ave.
- 599 Tuttle Ave.
- 44 Brennan St.
- 520 East Lake Ave.
- 240 East Lake Ave.
- 425 Carmel St.
- 138 College Road
- 921 Brewington Ave.
- 517 Brewington Ave.
- 511 Brewington Ave.
- 742 Martinelli St.
- 522/526 Main St.
- 46 Quinta Vista
