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Residents in the Tri-Valley will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this Fourth of July as cities throughout the region prepare to host various Independence Day events. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
The annual Danville parade will begin at San Ramon Valley High School at 9 a.m. (Photo courtesy of Kiwanis Club of the San Ramon Valley) 
The Pleasanton Community Concert Band will be performing once again at this year’s Fourth of July celebration in Pleasanton. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Community members participate in last year’s Fourth of July Run San Ramon event. (City of San Ramon) 
Boy scouts in Danville march during last year’s Kiwanis-Danville Fourth of July parade. (Photo courtesy of Kiwanis Club of the San Ramon Valley) 
Pleasanton’s Fourth of July celebration will feature performances by several groups, including local veterans. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District will be hosting its Independence Day Dash this Friday (July 3). (Photo courtesy of LARPD) 
Members of the public witness the Alameda County Fairgrounds install a 9/11 remembrance exhibit back in May. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
A U.S. Army helicopter is driven down the street in Danville during last year’s parade. (Photo courtesy of Kiwanis Club of the San Ramon Valley) 
The Pleasanton Fourth of July event will return to the Lion’s Wayside Park for an afternoon of music, community and patriotism. (Photo by Chuck Deckert)
Tri-Valley residents will be joining the rest of the country in celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the official birth of the U.S. as a special Fourth of July holiday arrives this weekend.
From parades and concerts to controlled firework displays, Independence Day weekend will have a little bit of everything for families across the region.
Starting in Pleasanton, the holiday festivities will begin at the Lions Wayside Park where the Make A Difference, Today & Always nonprofit will be hosting its annual Fourth of July concert and picnic from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The event, entitled “Celebrating Freedom and its Evolution since the Revolution”, will feature members from the Pleasanton Community Concert Band, the American Legion Post No. 237, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 6928 and Boy Scout Troop No. 908.
“Since 1999, volunteers have put together ‘Celebrating Freedom and its Evolution since the Revolution’ for our community,” Make A Difference co-founder W. Ron Sutton said in a press release for the event.
“On this 250th Independence Day, we celebrate our shared heritage with an old-fashioned Fourth,” Sutton added. “Even if we disagree on July 5 regarding current politics, we will do so with our expected behaviors of Respect, Responsibility, Compassion, Honesty, and Integrity. We celebrate living in a Community of Character!”
Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch will join others in delivering remarks during the event. In an email statement to the Pleasanton Weekly ahead of the celebration, Balch reflected on some of his speeches over the past year and how they touched on what America means to him and the greater Pleasanton community.
“I feel incredibly humbled and honored to serve as Mayor of Pleasanton during America’s Semiquincentennial,” Balch said.
“It’s an opportunity I never foresaw or imagined, and through a remarkable series of events, I’ve been blessed with this opportunity,” he added. “I sincerely hope that through my service I can inspire others to step forward and serve as well. America’s future rests in its people, and it is one of the great honors of my life to support our community, invest in our children, and strengthen the common values that bring us together.”
According to the Make A Difference nonprofit, the Fourth of July concert in Pleasanton will feature “music linked with three areas of America’s expansion over the past 250 years: geographic, civil rights, and industry/space program”.
The Pleasanton Lions Club will also be serving 400 hot dog lunches, vegetarian options and cotton candy at the event. Additionally, a limited number of tokens will be passed out to children for free ice cream cones from Meadowlark Dairy.
Those who are thinking of attending the concert and picnic are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets to sit on and are also encouraged to wear red, white and blue. Only 50 chairs beneath the shade canopies will be provided on behalf of the community concert band.
For those thinking of starting celebrations a bit earlier than the Pleasanton event, the San Ramon Valley is kicking things off bright and early Saturday.
San Ramon is hosting its 40th annual Run San Ramon event, which offers a Fastest Mile, 5K and 10K run. The Fastest Mile will start at 8 a.m. while the 5K and 10K runs will each start at 8:30 a.m.
Attendees can check in and register the same day at 7:30 a.m. or the day before (July 3). More information is available at the San Ramon city website, sanramon.ca.gov.
Later that evening, San Ramon will also be hosting an Independence Day Celebration Concert from 5-8 p.m. The event, which takes place at the San Ramon Central Park Amphitheater, will feature patriotic music and a “high-energy concert” from The Cheeseballs — a San Francisco-based band bringing the “best of funk & soul with hits from the 80s, 90s and today.”
No fireworks will be displayed at the San Ramon concert, city officials said.
A little further up Interstate 680, Danville will be co-hosting the annual Kiwanis-Danville Fourth of July Parade in collaboration with the Kiwanis Club of the San Ramon Valley. The parade will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and will feature more than 100 participating groups and thousands of spectators, according to the town’s website.
“The 4th of July Parade brings residents, visitors, local organizations, youth groups, bands, community leaders, and classic parade favorites together for a festive morning in the heart of downtown,” according to the Danville website. “This year’s event also carries added national significance as communities across the country mark America’s 250th anniversary.”
The parade will begin at San Ramon Valley High School near Railroad Avenue and will run along Hartz Avenue and San Ramon Valley Boulevard before ending at Town and Country Drive. Streets will begin closing at 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the town.
The city of Dublin will kick off its Fourth of July festivities starting at 10 a.m. with its Red, White & Blue Backyard Bash. According to the city’s website, the event — scheduled to take place at the Dublin Sports Grounds until 4 p.m. — will commemorate the country’s 250th birthday as well as California’s 175th anniversary of being a state, which was celebrated last September.
“This family-friendly community celebration will feature live entertainment, delicious food, games, activities, and patriotic fun for all ages,” Dublin’s Parks and Community Services website states. “Gather with friends, family, and neighbors to honor our nation’s rich history, celebrate California’s legacy, and enjoy an afternoon filled with community spirit.”
Heading back down the Tri-Valley, Livermore will once again be hosting its Fourth of July celebration from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Livermore Municipal Airport.
According to the city’s website, the third annual Independence Day event will feature several family-friendly activities, including a flight simulator, live music, local food vendors and a kids zone. Free parking will be available at Las Positas College in Lots C, D and E — a free shuttle will also be available.
The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District will also be hosting a Fourth of July pool party from noon to 5 p.m. at the Robert Livermore Aquatic Center. Attendees will be able to cool off at the pool and enjoy music, lawn games and food trucks.
Admission will be free for Livermore residents. Everyone else will have to pay $7, according to LARPD’s website. In addition to the pool party, LARPD will be hosting its own Independence Day Dash this Friday, prior to the Fourth of July.
Similar to the San Ramon runs, LARPD will be hosting a 5K run through Sycamore Grove Park, which starts at 8 a.m., and a kids run on July 3. The kids run, according to LARPD, will take place along the Sycamore Trail and will start at 9:15 a.m.
More information on the Livermore runs is available at the LARPD website, larpd.org.
In an email statement, Livermore Mayor John Marchand took some time to acknowledge just how big of a role local municipalities have had on Americans throughout the nation’s history.
“As the nation is celebrating its 250th, and Livermore its 150th, I have found myself reflecting on the role of government in people’s lives,” Marchand told the Weekly. “Local government funds free libraries, public safety, public works, police, and fire services. The role of government is to make people’s lives better, everyone’s lives, and that is what we work to achieve in Livermore every day.”
Last but not least, the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton will be open during the Fourth so that people can enjoy everything the fair has to offer before it puts on its annual fireworks show, which starts at 9:30 p.m.
“The Alameda County Fair will be open on July 4 until the end of the Firework Spectacular Show,” according to the fairground’s website. “Celebrate the 250th anniversary of America and Blues Fest with a full day of rides, entertainment and festivities, then enjoy the Fireworks to close out the night.”
Fair admission gates close at 5 p.m. that day and re-entry will not be allowed after 5 p.m. Children ages 17 or under must be accompanied by an adult who is over 25 throughout the entire day.
Another historical event is being recognized during this year’s fair run.
The “Rising Together: In Remembrance of 9/11” exhibit is currently on display until the end of the fair. The exhibit features fragments from the Twin Towers, which fell during the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and serves as a “powerful tribute rooted in remembrance, patriotism and unity” as the fair recognizes America’s 250th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“The Alameda County Fair has always been a place where our community comes together,” Angel Moore, COO of the fairgrounds, said in a May 26 press release. “This memorial provides an important opportunity to honor those we lost, recognize the courage of our heroes, and reflect on the service, unity and resilience that continues to unite us all.”
Balch also highlighted unity and resilience as the Tri-Valley gets set to celebrate the nation’s birthday. He said that while he tends to be optimistic toward people, he understands that America’s story is “not one of a perfect union”.
“The Preamble to our Constitution speaks to forming ‘a more perfect Union,’ and to me that reflects the idea that there is always more work to do, more change to adapt to, and continued growth ahead,” Balch said. “I’m also very inspired by the Declaration of Independence and its affirmation that we all have unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
“Those words are enduring and remind us of the common thread that runs from the very start of this American experiment to this very day,” he added. “We all have dark days, and America has had dark days, but how we carry on matters, how we get up, how we keep going, and how we advance together. It’s hard to capture it fully, but that belief is at the heart of what America means to me.”
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