116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
On Fourth of July, Coralville area residents celebrate power of community in city’s 150th year
Thousands of residents line streets for holiday parade to celebrate city’s annual 4thFest
CORALVILLE — Thousands of people donning patriotic hues of red, white and blue packed sidewalks and front yards in Coralville Tuesday morning to celebrate Fourth of July — appreciating the community tradition of 4thFest as they watched the parade travel down city streets.
In Coralville’s 150th anniversary since it was incorporated as a town, area residents were eager to enjoy the activities of the annual 4thFest and celebrate the power of community while commemorating the day the U.S. officially became an independent nation.
The two-mile parade featured marching bands and floats, including local touches honoring the town’s history to mark its sesquicentennial.
“It's the Fourth of July, it’s Independence Day,” said Ron Dixon, of Iowa City, who was celebrating with his four children, who were toddling along the street as he watched from a lawn chair. “It's a big deal for our community.”
Alexandra Parham, 37, and her husband Tom, 38, have lived in Coralville for about 10 years. They were lined up along 12th Avenue watching the parade with their children — Annabelle, 8, and Tommy, 12.
Alexandra Parham, a teacher at Northwest Junior High School, said she loves this community — especially whenever residents are all together, and she’s able to walk around and meet new neighbors.
Being a middle school teacher, she said the kindness of the kids she teaches give her hope for the future. As a country, she hopes people can band together to make the U.S. better for all.
“I have complicated feelings about patriotism, but it's important to be optimistic that we can do better,” Alexandra Parham said. “We have the resources, we have the people. We can do better.”
Tom agreed and said under previous presidential administrations, it was hard to feel proud of some policies that the executive branch was promoting.
“I think we're getting back to sort of what makes America work,” he said, though he noted recent Supreme Court rulings as a challenge.
Last week, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled against President Joe Biden's student loan debt forgiveness plan, LGBTQ+ protections and affirmative action in college admissions.
But in Coralville, Tom Parham said he and his family can be surrounded by like-minded people who support the arts and diversity of cultures and perspectives. It’s an inclusive place where the Parhams can raise their children.
“Part of that is getting out and supporting things like this,” Tom Parham said. “Let's bring the community together and remind us that we're all one collective trying to get through this stuff as best we can.”
Robin Burns, who works at the University of Iowa, was celebrating the holiday with her longtime friend Chris Radcliff, 62, and a group of international students.
Ayesha Khan, 35, a postdoctoral research scholar in the Chemistry Department at the UI from Pakistan, said she came to the U.S. last year for her postdoctoral research and has a year left in her program. She hopes to pursue a career in academia.
This was her first time attending Coralville’s Fourth of July parade, and she said it was fun. “I get to know about the community and the culture. People are lively and friendly, fun-loving,” Khan said of Americans. “They enjoy the little things. … They don't take too much stress and tension. I think that’s the thing that I most like about American people.”
Shalini, 30, also a postdoctoral research scholar, from India, said people in the U.S. are so free compared to other countries.
“It’s literally land of the free, home of the brave,” she said.
Hearing the students’ enthusiasm for the U.S., Radcliff said she used to host exchange students, and the theme they all remarked on about the U.S. was its founding principle of freedom.
“When my students went back (to their home countries), it was very hard for them because they had to go back to their country and it wasn’t that way,” Radcliff said.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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