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McALLEN — “Since I was a little kid, it’s been my favorite holiday!” exclaimed lifelong McAllen resident, Jorge Muñiz, shortly after the last mounted rider danced his horse down South Main Street to close out the city’s Fourth of July parade.
Muñiz, 40, was one of the hundreds of McAllen residents who crowded onto the risers along South Main on a sweltering Tuesday morning to take in the more than 70 patriotically decorated floats, cars, motorcycles and horses that participated in the parade.
And since Independence Day is his favorite holiday, Muñiz was sure to snag a literal front-row seat. There, he spent almost an hour eagerly waving to parade participants, handing out fist bumps to passerby’s and waving an American flag.
“I just came here just to have fun, just to enjoy life,” an exuberant Muñiz said.
Among his favorite parts of the parade were a collection of tricked out lowrider cars, including one featuring a sparkling iguana-green paint job that bumped and bounced down the parade route on its custom hydraulics.
But aside from the cool cars, Muñiz also attended the parade to support a friend’s daughters — members of the Girl Scouts — who were part of the parade for the first time.
“We had, like, a huge blast!” said 13-year-old Alyssa Cadena.
“It was super fun,” she added with an electric smile.
Her 8-year-old sister, Aria, also a Girl Scout, agreed, saying she loved all the people they got to see on the parade route.
For Carl Vestweber, 42, and his wife, Sofia, the parade and subsequent Freedom Festival on the lawns of Archer Park were a chance to enjoy the day together.
“We wanted the girls to have a good time,” Vestweber said of their two daughters, Emma, 4, and Nina, 8, as the family took a moment to relax in a patch of shade on the verdant grass.
Sofia said the family comes every year and enjoys the opportunity to do “something fun outdoors together and celebrating Independence Day together.”
The Vestweber family said they planned to take in the fireworks show later on in the evening, too.
For District 4 McAllen City Commissioner Rodolfo “Rudy” Castillo, the fireworks are the best part of all.
“I think that’s one of my favorite (things), the fireworks,” Castillo said. “Plus, you know, the parade is really nice and awesome. You get to see a lot of faces,” he added.
Castillo, along with several other McAllen elected officials, rode through the parade on a float designed to look like a colorful, storybook train. And as Castillo implied, it was the perfect vantage point from which to see all the joyful faces in the crowd.
District 2 Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Cabeza de Vaca agreed, describing the energy of the parade as “awesome.”
“Thank you to everybody that participated. Thank you to city staff. Thank you for all the citizens that took the morning to celebrate all those beautiful souls that gave us our freedom,” Cabeza de Vaca said.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: McAllen’s 95th annual Independence Day celebration
