This past weekend, Sitkans gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday with an array of events, culminating in a parade through downtown. The weekend’s festivities which included music, food, field games, and performances, were some of the first large scale gatherings since the beginning of the pandemic last year. 

KCAW’s Tash Kimmell attended the parade and sent this audio postcard

Sitkans march in the Fourth of July parade down Lincoln St. This year’s theme was “Red, White, and Blue.” (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
Valerie Allensworth and her son Logan enjoy the Fourth of July parade in downtown Sitka (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
A woman throws candy to onlookers at the Fourth of July parade (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
U.S. Coast Guard helicopters fly overhead at the Fourth of July parade in downtown Sitka (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
Audrey Nevers and Julene Howard blow bubbles at the crowd (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
A man waves from a float in Sitka’s Fourth of July parade (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)
A young girl skips through a crowded Lincoln St. before the Fourth of July parade (KCAW/Tash Kimmell)

Tash Kimmell is a Report for America corps member