Parade and fireworks make Sunday fun day
Make way for the red, white and blue. The Fort Myers Beach Fourth of July parade and fireworks display will pack quite a punch for residents and visitors alike on Sunday, July 4.
Beginning with the Beach Civic Association’s Independence Day Parade at 1 p.m. and finishing with the The Semmer Team fireworks show at dusk, Sunday should prove to be a fun day for all involved.
Parade
The FMB Civic Association’s third annual Fourth of July parade will again be marching down Estero Boulevard from Topps SuperMarket parking lot north to Times Square. This year’s 1 p.m. start accommodates the island’s churches since Independence Day falls on a Sunday. Expect the Matanzas Skybridge to be closed from 12:45 p.m. until 2 p.m.
Sheriff Mike Scott will be the grand marshall of the parade, while Cape Coral resident Donna Snow -2010 Miss Florida International- will be among seven beauty queens to ride in the parade. All participants are asked to be there and begin lining up at noon.
Everyone wishing to enter a float and didn’t receive an invitation in the mail can call Lee Melsek at 470-3407 or Dennis Boback at 462-8798. Entry fees are $20 for non-profit organizations and $40 for commercial and for-profit organizations.
According to Boback, Beach Civic board member and parade coordinator, entrees for the parade are coming in every day.
The Civic Association partners for the 2010 parade are The Surf Club, The Beached Whale, The Beach Observer, Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grill, Charley’s Boathouse Grill, Mermaid Lounge and Liquors, Winds, Mango Bay and the Times Square Alliance. Other businesses wishing to join as a sponsor should contact Melsek or Boback. Main sponsors get their name on the parade tank tops and t-shirts.
Boback said the Beach Civic group is still looking for vendors to set up on Estero Boulevard for the first time in the parade’s history. There will be room for roughly 12 vendors. Contact Melsek or him for information regarding available location space.
“There are still few vendor openings available,” said Boback. “The vendors will be there all day. It gives people something to do between the parade and the fireworks.”
Parade awards are expected to be announced at the Surf Club afterwards. They include Best Decorated Float; Best Musical Unit; Best Patriotic Theme; Best Overall Theme; Best Decorated Bike; Best Business; Best Non-Business; Best Decorated Car; Best Decorated Boat; Best Marching Unit; and Best of the Parade (Best Entry in Parade).
Donations to help pay for parade expenses will entitle you to be a “Friend of the Fourth of July Parade” which includes being mentioned in all pre- and post-parade stories in Tidelines, The Beach Observer and The News-Press. If interested, send a check to the Fort Myers Beach Civic Association, P.O. Box 2356, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33932.
“It’s good, clean fun for the families and the kids,” said Boback. “Come to the Beach, enjoy the parade and stay around for the fireworks. We encourage you to patronize all of the sponsors and local merchants.”
Fireworks
Fort Myers Beach will be lighting up the skies on Independence Day. The Semmer Team fireworks committee has completed the fund-raising portion of the program and is set to unleash another spectacular man-built and electronically-produced fireworks show from the Beach Pier at dusk on Sunday, July 4. Expect the show to start as soon as it’s dark enough to kick off the display.
The Beach fireworks show has annually been regarded as the finest and most popular in all of Southwest Florida and draws tens of thousands of people to the island and along the shoreline. Since Fort Myers doesn’t appear to be having their own show -the first time in 23 years- there is a strong anticipation for a larger-than-normal crowd of spectators.
The Beach fireworks set-up takes about two days to build from transporting sand to the pier to placing the mortar to building the wooden framing for the grand finale and wiring everything together.
For more than 21 years, The Semmer Team has partnered with Garden State Fireworks, a team of federally licensed pyrotechnic experts who manufacture their own fireworks and are protected by a $5 million liability insurance policy and hold an outstanding safety record.
Even with the poor state of economy, this year’s holiday show is expected to delight those who watch the roughly 40-minute presentation off the pier in the Times Square area. There will be paid parking in Lynn Hall Park and along Old San Carlos Boulevard. Come early and secure your spot.
“This is probably one of the biggest events for the Fourth of July celebration in Southwest Florida,” said Joanne Semmer, team spokesperson for the Semmer Team.
Fireworks fundraisers for the show have been held since the beginning of May, and contributing businesses such as Bonita Bill’s Waterfront Restaurant, Yucatan Beach Stand, the Beach Chamber of Commerce, Surf Club, the Mermaid Lounge & Liquors, Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille and the Fort Myers Beach Golf Club are anxious to see the fruits of their labor.
“We just want to thank the community very much because we couldn’t do it without their support,” said Semmer.
Special trolley service July 4
LeeTran will operate two trolley routes on Sunday, July 4, in honor of Independence Day, according to Joanne Haley of LeeTran.
Trolley service from Summerlin Square on the mainland to Bowditch Park at
the north end of the island, will run every 40 minutes starting at 7 a.m.
The last trip off the island will drop passengers at Summerlin Square at
11:55 p.m.
Beach trolley service, which travels on Estero Boulevard from Bowditch Park
to Lovers Key State Park, will run every 30 minutes from 6:45 a.m. until the
last stop at Bowditch at 11:40 p.m.
The adult trolley fare is 50 cents per boarding; the discount fare (seniors
65 and up, disabled persons and students with required I.D.) is 25 cents per
boarding. Exact change is required.
For more information, contact LeeTran Customer Service at 533-8726
(LEE-TRAN).