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The chairs were in place Friday night, lining Hartz Avenue and San Ramon Valley Boulevard to reserve special places for families and friends to view the annual Kiwanis Fourth of July Parade in Danville.
Saturday morning promptly at 9 a.m., hundreds of children on scooters, skateboards and bicycles stepped onto the parade route, in keeping with the theme, “Celebrating Our Youth.” There was something for everyone as the parade continued for two hours with marching bands, rock bands and even the rousing tones of the Chinese Lion Dance Team.
Once again the Danville Weekly was proud to sponsor a marching band composed of students from the local high schools. It was under the leadership of band directors Cheryl Yee Glass and Dan Ragani with drum major Nathan Polanco, all from San Ramon Valley High. This year students from all four high schools participated: San Ramon, Monte Vista, California and Dougherty Valley.
“We like to do this to thank the community for supporting us,” said Glass, adding that she never misses a chance to show how important music is in the schools.
The parade is organized by the Kiwanis Club of San Ramon Valley. This year Deanna Sullivan was in charge of the massive undertaking of organizing thousands of participants to march the 1.2-mile route. The parade is estimated to draw 30,000 people.
It is one of two major fundraisers by the Kiwanis Club each year, which enable it to give thousands of dollars to local nonprofit groups.
“We have raised over $42,0000 this year, which will be given to our beneficiaries through annual charitable grants and fund numerous community service projects,” said fundraising chairman David Romano.
The Kiwanis annual Invitational Golf Tournament was held recently at Round Hill Country Club. The tournament was a tremendous financial success and the players had a great time,” reported Romano.
This morning the weather was perfect as unit after unit marched and rolled past the enthusiastic crowd, many waving the American flag and dressed in red, white and blue.
All too soon the Devil Mountain Brigade of men dressed in red shirts and black hats brought up the close, firing volleys of shots from their rifles for the traditional ending to the parade.
It was time for everyone to gather their chairs and head for home. An hour later the streets were quiet in the afternoon sun except for revelers at some of the downtown restaurants.
Good job, Kiwanis! And Happy Fourth of July to everyone.
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Let’s get this party started! This young Danvillian was among the dozens of area kids who rode at the head of this year’s annual Danville 4th of July parade. Photo by Geoff Gillette. -
This performance by an area martial arts studio is a strong reminder of the many cultural influences in Danville. Photo by Geoff Gillette. -
No July 4th parade is complete without the Danville Weekly Marching Band. Advertising representative Barbara Lindsey (left) and Editor Dolores Fox Ciardelli bear our banner with pride! Photo by Geoff Gillette. -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Danville Councilwoman Candace Andersen and her family. Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com -
Photo by Chris Scott/www.calsportsphoto.com
Appeal over redevelopment project at old Chevron HQ coming to San Ramon councilApril 6, 2026 10:32 pm
Where was Sullenberger?
No sully to be found.
where is our picture at the parade
We went to the Danville Parade once when we first moved here. Never again will we put ourselves through such a display of rudeness and incivility.
As an experiment, remove any time restrictions on allowing people to “reserve” a space with chairs, blankets or whatever. This will really show you what kind of people go to the parade.
Rogers: Was your photo taken by Stan Wharton? If so, it is under the headline Gotcha! This is a feature of the Danville Weekly at public events where we take a lot of photos and post them on our Web site, without names.
Thank God…No more Scully. This one was really over played. I’ve said it before, if he was doing his job at the time and not the co-pilot, he may have been able to avoid the situation.
Great parade…no banks, no title companies, now get rid of the self serving politicians and the day would have been a total hit.
Rick, At one time there was no restriction on when the chairs came out, that’s why the restriction. Chairs were appearing two day’s before the 4th. As for rudeness, well let’s just say, anytime you get 30,000 people together you’re bound to find a few a**holes. I’ve been going to the parade for about 20 years or so and you are right. I felt the same in those early years, but the folks attending the parade these day’s seem to be are less pushy. You should give it another try, if not for you…for your family.
Hey,
We go down the night before just to see the chairs, even if we don’t make the Parade. It’s amazing that no steals them. We’re a great town and community and our Parade is a great way to celebrate. It brings the town together as do many Danville events. I’ve been in the Parade over the year’s with old PacBell, kids, horses a goat and then with Hospice. It was amazing to slowly pass all those smiling faces waving flags.
And Sully will always be OUR hero whether he was there or not. He did a calm and courageous thing that day. He saved 155 lives. Whomever wrote that from Alamo must be envious…where is THEIR parade?
Keep up the great work Kiwanis and Deanna Sullivan and everyone did a great job. Thank You All !
You go down the night before just to see the chairs?
I haven’t missed a parade since 1985, and hope that record continues for many more years! We love the parade, “bumping into” many neighbors, seeing the many “givers” of our community, etc! I feel so blessed to live in a community with community spirit and heart! By the way, while my little 4 yr old grandson loves the parade, his favorite part is the street cleaners! He waited patiently until they arrived, and then WHAT a hit! (It really is impressive to see how efficiently the town is cleaned up after such a massive gathering!)
We used to go to the parade when we moved to Danville 10+ years ago. Our neighbors on our street would congregate at one location at the parade. As our child grew up, we stopped going, but along came our second and we realized this year that he’s never been! So, we went down this year and had a fantastic time! There was never any rudeness that I can recall. Yes, it’s crowded, but it’s a celebration of our freedom and community spirit. It was a fun small-town gathering. Enjoy it for what it is! The Kiwanis did a terrific job!
A lovely parade and a great day. This is what makes living in Danville special. The Kiwanis does a great job in organizing such a large event.
I have no complaints about rude people. In fact it was the opposite. People were friendly and polite. We took our dog to the parade and the children around us kept her company and she enjoyed the dog treats given out during the parade. I especially enjoyed the creativity of groups like the lawn mower brigade and the grill wars. I hope more groups join in the challenge next year.