Yesterday, Santa Monica celebrated the Fourth of July in the same way it has for the past decade: a parade down Main Street.

The parade, organized by the Ocean Park Association, featured hundreds of marchers and included nonprofit organizations like Meals on Wheels West, Airport2Park, and Climate Action Santa Monica’s Climate Corps.

Also among the marchers were city staff, current and former elected officials, such as Assemblymember Richard Bloom, State Senator Ben Allen, and Congressmember Ted Lieu, as well as Santa Monica City Councilmembers Gleam Davis, Terry O’Day, Kevin McKeown, Ted Winterer, Sue Himmelrich, and Tony Vazquez.

Serving as the parade’s grand marshal was Elaine Polacheck, Santa Monica’s assistant city manager who will retire this month after three decades with the city. Parent Teacher Associations, police and firefighters, and many other local and regional groups were represented in the parade which went from the Santa Monica Civic Center (at Pico and Main Street) to the city’s southern border.

City staff were spreading the word about Santa Monica’s mobility initiative, designed to educate people about the myriad ways to get around the city without a car.

And City Manager Rick Cole rode the route on a Breeze Bike Share bike.

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Here are some more pictures from yesterday’s festivities, including some with Santa Monica’s brand new parklets which opened last month. Photos by Alisha Rayne/Santa Monica Next.

Climate Action Santa Monica was just one of the local nonprofits represented in the parade Tuesday.
Other organizations, like the Girl Scouts…
… and Meals on Wheels West, also participated.
Santa Monica’s police and firefighters were also well-represented.
There was live music.
And clowns.
And bicycle-riding daredevils.
The new parklets on Main Street provided ideal spots to watch the parade roll by.
Many people simply gathered to watch from the sidewalks.

Did you get any pictures of yesterday’s festivities? Share in the comments.

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