A bang-up holiday week is in store for Anne Arundel County residents as barbecues, carnivals, parades and fireworks mark the Fourth of July.
Many communities have scheduled events throughout the week. Pasadena and Rose Haven are holding their festivals Friday and Saturday, respectively. And Fort Meade will throw a party -- including a carnival, fireworks, a talent show and a truck and auto show -- from Wednesday to Saturday.
Sticklers who believe the Fourth of July should, indeed, be celebrated on the July 4 can still wave their flags at Annapolis' annual parade and fireworks extravaganza. And this year, Annapolis organizers say, the dawn of the 1996 Summer Olympics makes celebrating independence even more meaningful.
Olympic torchbearers past and present will help usher in the nation's 220th birthday at the Annapolis parade.
Local runners who sent the torch on its way to Atlanta this year and to Los Angeles in 1984 are slated to join the parade and fireworks, which more than 50,000 people are expected to attend.
Annapolis spokesman Thomas W. Roskelly was quick to point out that the Olympics are not the theme of this year's parade but a welcome addition.
"It's Independence Day. What more of a theme do you need?" he said. "We're clearly looking for a lot of red, white and blue to be represented."
The Annapolis Independence Day Parade begins at 6: 30 p.m. on St. John's Street. It will wind through the downtown, into the Naval Academy and along the Yard, disbanding on Holloway Road near Santee Basin.
City officials suggest people watch the festivities from the governor's mansion side of College Avenue, Church Circle and all along Main Street, the Market Space and Dock Street area and on academy fields.
At 8 p.m., the Naval Academy Band will provide music at Farragut Field, followed by a fireworks display at 9: 15 p.m.
Suggested viewing areas for fireworks include the Farragut and Dewey fields on the academy grounds, the City Dock, the Eastport Bridge, the parks in Eastport and aboard boats in Annapolis Harbor.
Spectators also can watch the fireworks from the garden of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Charles Carroll House will celebrate the day with free public tours of the historic home and gardens from noon to 4 p.m. House gates will open again at 5: 30 p.m. for an 18th-century-style family picnic, with a buffet of roasted pig on the spit, Maryland Boordy wines and Celtic music, courtesy of "Ironweed." Admission for the picnic is $18 for adults, $13 for children under 12 and free admission for children under 6.
