Nearly 12,000 community members lined Main Street in Turlock on Monday as the city celebrated the nation’s birthday with its annual Fourth of July Downtown Parade. Visitors saw a number of new sights in Turlock for the holiday, including the first time that a Stanislaus State president has participated in the parade and the revival of the car show.
“I think the parade is now a staple in Turlock,” said former Turlock Downtown director Gina Loretelli. “It’s symbolic of the downtown and the support that downtown has.”
According to Loretelli, the parade had over 60 entries, ranging from floats of hay bales to groups of cyclists cruising down the street. The Most Patriotic award went to the Winton, Ireland, Strom & Green fire truck, followed by Insurecal’s float in second place and the Valley Vettes in third. The Stars and Stripes award was given to the Salvation Army’s float, followed by Vice Mayor Amy Bublak with Russell Lanini and the Turlock U.S. Army recruiting station in second and the Assyrian American Civic Club in third place. The Casale family and friends won the Hometown Turlock award in their antique tractors. The Turlock Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts took home second and third in the Hometown Turlock category, respectively.
The community parade was accompanied by a car show and street fair, which kept a wide variety of Turlockers entertained with food, arts and crafts vendors, live music and a beer garden. Despite the heat, downtown was filled with people until about 2 p.m. The car show, which was sponsored by Glass Boss, was revived this year after having been absent from the festivities for several years.
The Police Chief’s Choice went to a 1967 Chevelle owned by John Vega, while the Fire Chief’s Choice was won by Jim Artrip and his 1932 Plymouth Roadster. The Mayor’s Choice was won by a 1964 Chevy Impala SS owned by Dave Thorpe, and the City Manager’s Choice went to Augie Scoto and his 1950 pickup. A 1962 C 10 owned by Luis Cruz took home Best Truck, Best Car went to Tom DiAngelo’s 1966 Mustang Shelby GT350 and the Best of Show was won by a 1958 Chevy Impala owned by Alejandro Torres.
