Family and friends from the Wyben area wave to the crowd from their homemade float as part of the annual Wyben Independence Day Parade. The Wyben parade will assemble at at 6 p.m. and all are welcome. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Two Independence Day parades and the Rotary Club’s annual fireworks display at Stanley Park are slated as the city commemorates the Fourth of July this weekend.
The first begins at 10 a.m. at Hampton Ponds plaza and goes west on North Road to the Hampton Ponds Association Building, located at the corner of North Road and Old Stage Road where a ceremony will be held.
The second is later that evening, at 6 p.m., the Wyben neighborhood will hold their annual parade. All are welcome to come to either event and celebrate the nation’s freedom and liberty.
A dog hangs on tight in front of the operator of this all terrain vehicle as a woman waves a large decoration as part of the Hampton Ponds Independence Day Parade. This year the parade will start at the Hampton Ponds Plaza and goes west on North Road to the Hampton Ponds Association Building, located at the corner of North Road and Old Stage Road where a ceremony will be held. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
City Council President Pro Ten Christopher Keefe reminded council members of the 10 a.m. start of the Hampton Ponds Association 58th Annual July 4 parade. Marchers, including city veteran organizations, will assemble at 9:30 a.m. at the Hampton Ponds Plaza parking lot
Keefe, who represents Ward 1, which includes Wyben, urged members planning on attending the Wyben event to dress casually for the 6:30 p.m. Wyben family-friendly celebration.
The Wyben community parade will assemble at 6 p.m. at the corner of North and Montgomery roads . Marchers will then proceed down Montgomery Road to West Road, turn-around and return to the Wyben Schoolhouse.
Wyben residents are also planning a community picnic, featuring a softball game, at 9 a.m. on West Road. In the event of rain the picnic will be relocated to the Wyben Chapel.
Hampton Ponds will also be the location of a boat parade slated for 5 p.m. that afternoon. Friday will also see the inaugural launch of the Westfield Police Department lake patrol at the ponds. The WPD has been renovating a pontoon vessel and training officer to enforce water safety laws.
Police Chief John Camerota said that the residents of the ponds area are “starving for some law enforcement on the water” and reported that he has developed a plan to respond to their needs.
Camerota researched the problem and found that neither the state nor the environmental police forces have the resources to provide boat patrols on the ponds in Westfield, but the city will fill the vacuum because of a resident’s donation.
Camerota explained that efforts had been made to address the problem of not being able to respond to boating complaints in the past, but said recently that “we were never able to get to the enforcement level and we’re really trying to get there this year.
“There’s a family that wants to give us a pontoon boat at a very very reasonable cost,” he said.
Camerota consulted Fire Chief Mary Regan while planning his proposal because there are “many many medical calls up there during the summer” and said “it would be in their best interest to have a paramedic on board with us.”
Camerota said that the boat under consideration is big enough to comfortably carry as many as six persons, has plenty of room for necessary equipment and is well suited to operations on the ponds.
“The boat is perfect,” Camerota said. “It (will) certainly suit our purposes.”
He also said that he has consulted the State Police to consider jurisdictional concerns because much of Pequot Pond is within a state park. Camerota addressed that issue with the state police has been assured that the city police will be given “concurrent jurisdiction” giving the boat patrol officers the authority to work on any part of the ponds.
The Westfield Rotary Club, in partnership with Stanley Park, will sponsor the annual fireworks display on Saturday July 5, not the traditional July 3 date. The display is scheduled to begin shortly after dusk. The Westfield News will print a report Saturday morning on the traffic pattern set by the police department and areas available for spectator parking.
Southwick residents will celebrate the Fourth during Southwick Days, set for July 25-27 at the Southwick Recreation Center. The celebration includes fireworks July 25, live music July 26, and Grill’n Daze BBQ competition July 27.
