Plastic lawn chairs, metal folding chairs and fabric picnic chairs tied together and lassoed around nearby trees or poles begin to line Monterey Street in downtown Morgan Hill days before the city’s Fourth of July parade.
Residents, such as 90-year-old LaGina Metcalf, know if they want the prime spots along the parade route, the earlier the better.
“It gets earlier and earlier every year,” said LaGina, who on Wednesday had a relative set up chairs for 27 family members and friends on the median of Monterey Street in downtown. This year, the family viewing area included much needed shade from the trees on these hot summer days.
Metcalf, a Morgan Hill resident since 1954, worked at the old Morgan Hill School for 27 years and was the city’s 1993 Woman of the Year. Her husband, the late Clarence Metcalf, and grandson, Ron Moore, were former grand marshals of Morgan Hill’s Independence Day parade.
“I’ve never missed one,” admitted Metcalf, sporting a blue shirt with an American flag emblazed on the front. “It’s such a big family tradition. They all come from out of state to visit with grandma.”
Chad Moore, a 1986 Live Oak High School alumnus and one of LaGina’s 11 grandchildren, made the 10-hour drive down from his home in Willamette Valley, Oregon, along with his wife Beth and their two children.
“We just come for grandma,” said Chad, who marched in the parade with the LOHS band years ago. His children have also participated in the 5K run.
“My kids get a real taste of Americana by coming down to Morgan Hill,” he continued. “That’s what’s really important.”
Anna Moore, 13, one of LaGina’s 12 great grandchildren, said the road trip from Oregon is “long, but it’s worth it.” While she enjoys the parade, her favorite part of the annual family trip is the family party afterwards.
“It’s fun to be with my cousins,” added Anna’s younger brother Josh, 12, sitting next to cousin Abby Seeley, 10, who drove down from Modesto with her older sister for the festivities. “I like the fireworks at night.”
The fireworks show, held at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex on Condit Road for the first time this year, capped off a slew of patriotic themed activities for the Morgan Hill Freedom Fest. The celebrations opened with Saturday’s Bike Classic at Coyote Creek Trail and continued with Wednesday’s Patriotic Sing at the Britton Middle School gymnasium as well as the Family Music Fest at the Morgan Hill Community Center.
Following Thursday’s early morning 5K Walk/Run, the car cruise – a seemingly never-ending line of classic vehicles in all makes and models from Ford, Chevy, Dodge and others – kicked off the parade, which rolled through downtown Morgan Hill and hung a left down Main Street. All along the parade route were families – some four generations deep – decked out in patriotic garb such as oversized Uncle Sam hats and waving American flags of all sizes.
“This is fantastic,” said Ernie Romer who, along with his wife Marlyn, from Scotland, were visiting friends in Hollister. “I love watching the bands.”
With more than 130 entrants in the parade, there were marching bands aplenty, including groups from Live Oak and Ann Sobrato high schools as well as San Jose’s Valley Christian and Oak Grove high schools.
Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate rode in one of the brand new, bright red fire engines, recently purchased by the Morgan Hill Fire Department, while Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing preferred cruising along in a classic Oldsmobile police vehicle. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department was represented with officers on cool dirtbikes and a quad, as another sheriff’s sports utility vehicle towed a boat used to patrol the county waterways.
“I think it’s great. I love it,” said spectator Marlyn Romer, wearing a straw cowboy hat and American flag shirt. “I think everyone should be patriotic.”
And everyone who was anyone in the South County area converged on Morgan Hill amidst mild 70 degree temperatures – during the parade that is – and participated in one way or another. District 1 Supervisor Mike Wasserman, City Councilman Gordon Siebert, past Morgan Hill mayors, the Morgan Hill Unified School District administrative staff and members of the Board of Education, and war hero Lawson Sakai, as well other local military personnel and their families, were all on hand to celebrate Independence Day.
Floats included the Bookmobile by the Santa Clara County Library District, which decorated an ambulance; the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, whose members had various rescued fowl perched on their arms; Johnson Lumber & Garden Center, which blared Brooks and Dunn’s “Only in America” song as employees handed out big flags to young spectators; and Uesugi Farms, which brought its Iron Horse Train decorated with red-white-and-blue pageantry on top of the flatbed of a semi-tractor trailer truck.
There were Mexican cowboys, or vaqueros, riding handsome horses, which knew trick side-step moves. Even the Salinas Rodeo queen drove by sitting on the front hood of a sports utility vehicle, which had a bull’s head on it to make it look as if she were actually riding a bull. There were miniature ponies and donkeys, which perhaps garnered just as many, if not more “ooohh’s” and “ahhh’s” from adoring spectators than the fireworks that later lit up the night. And no parade, of course would be complete without free swag: candy, small American flags, patriotic T-shirts and paper fans were handed out by those on passing floats.
Before temperatures started to really heat up – hitting 90 degrees by noon – the parade had concluded and gave way to the annual car show, which featured classic cars parked in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot on the corner of Main and Monterey streets. The event was hosted by Russ Carr. More than 20 awards were given out, including the Best in Show to Morgan Hill’s Glenn Wildman, a member of the Valle del Sur Car Club, for his 1914 Model T Ford Phaeton.
Kyle Robertson, 17, of Morgan Hill, took home an award for his 1970 Chevy C10, which took more than two years to restore with the help of Robertson’s father and uncle.
“We’d just do a little here and a little there, whenever I got enough money to buy a part,” said Robertson, who drives his orange, award-winning classic car everyday. “I take care of it. I clean it every day. It’s an honor to be up there with all these super cars.”
Steve Mast, of Monterey, brought home a plaque for his 1966 Dodge 500 Coronet convertible, a vehicle he bought in 2004 because “they only made 1,500 of them.” Mast said the exterior was mostly restored, but he did all the restoration work inside the engine compartment – “everything you don’t see,” he explained.
“Morgan Hill is a beautiful town,” continued Mast, who noted the Freedom Fest puts on an event bigger and longer than “Hot August Nights” in Reno, Nevada. “The people here are really friendly.”
Fellow Monterey resident Harley McGinnis won an award for his blue 1965 Chevette, which he bought in 2001.
“I just want to thank the people of Morgan Hill who make this event possible. It’s awesome,” said McGinnis.
