Parade palozza
Spectators start staking out spots along Pike Street
On Saturday, one week before the annual Canonsburg Fourth of July parade, the first chairs were spotted along Pike Street – two red folding chairs placed neatly alongside a curb near the start of the parade route.
And so it begins, sort of: the Canonsburg July 4 chair tradition.
The ritual dates back decades, when Canonsburg parade-goers staked out their spot for the annual parade by setting their chairs out, sometimes weeks in advance of the parade.
That stopped, though, in 2012 when the borough adopted an ordinance limiting the place-saving with chairs to 48 hours before the start of the 10 a.m. parade.
Lynn Blaisdell, co-owner of All About Books with TLC on Pike Street, said she recalls the days when chairs lined the streets, often tied together with ropes, as families got ready for the parade.
“I’ve grown up here, and I’ve lived here through the years when the chairs showed up a month ahead of time. I always find it interesting that they had to pass an ordinance so people didn’t put them out too soon. There’s a lot of excitement when the chairs finally do show up,” said Blaisdell. “I absolutely love it. That’s how I know the Fourth is around the corner.”
While the red folding chairs were gone as of Tuesday morning, one chair is clearly visible on Pike Street: a gigantic Adirondack chair near the entrance of Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop.
Grandpa Joe’s founder and president Christopher Beers – the mastermind who placed thousands of rubber ducks throughout the town last year – sheepishly apologized for the violation of the chair ordinance. The oversized chair is, he said, an homage to the town’s tradition.
“It really is a tribute to the community. It’s paying tribute to the chair and how important that is for families here,” said Beers, who sets the chair outside in early June (a clear violation of the ordinance). “It became a tradition for them, that this is where their chairs go, and every year they go out together and they load up the car and they drive down and set up their chairs. It’s an homage to another Canonsburg tradition, and I just thought it would be fun to put a big, massive chair there on the corner to remind everyone how cool the parade is and how we all come together as a community to celebrate the Fourth of July.”
Harold Smith, owner of L&M Flower Shop, said the chair tradition “is something people embraced.”
“I’ve been in Canonsburg for 40 years and this is what people do,” he said. “Before the ordinance, chairs were out days before the parade, and we would ask people not to put their chairs in front of the store because we unload there. They were always very respectful of that.”
Blaisdell marveled that Canonsburg parade-goers have had “dibs” on their parade spot for years.
“I know exactly where to find people every year at the parade because they’re always in the same place, so there are definitely preferences about where people want to sit and where they want to be for different reasons,” she said.
Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome said the borough is expecting 60,000 people for this year’s 63rd annual Independence Day parade, which falls on a Saturday.
The festivities kick off at 7:30 a.m. with the 42nd annual Whiskey Rebellion 5K organized by the Canon-McMillan Cross Country boosters, followed by the parade and a full day of events at Canonsburg Town Park before the fireworks display at Canon-McMillan Stadium.
Beers said Grandpa Joe’s has created an elaborate float for this year’s parade, and while he won’t tell what the theme is, he did say the candy shop “is baking up something good.”
Said Rhome, “I think over the many years of the July 4 celebration, it’s been an awesome time for family and friends. A lot of people come back to Canonsburg for the parade, and all of the traditions established over the years, including that chairs. It’s the second-largest parade in Pennsylvania, and it’s an honor to represent the town. A lot of people have volunteered over the years to make it happen, and volunteerism is still needed. It takes a village.”