Editorial Editorial (July 02, 2004)

A great holiday weekend for Pleasanton

With gasoline prices still high, airports crowded and bridge tolls now at $3, there's every reason to stay close to home for a fun-filled holiday weekend in Pleasanton. It all starts late today when the Great Race of more than 100 vintage cars comes to Main Street, starting their parade under the Pleasanton Arch at 6 p.m. Tomorrow's Farmers Market, featuring the best in summer produce, is traditionally one of the biggest and most festive, with patriotic banners and vendors dressed in red, white and blue. On Sunday, everyone's invited to the free Independence Day picnic in the park, an annual family-focused event with patriotic music, special presentations and pageantry and bargain-priced hot dogs and refreshments. All this plus the Alameda County Fair all holiday weekend long with something for every age group, including professional entertainment, carnival rides, exhibits and demonstrations, children's programs and horseracing.

This confluence of events is expected to bring tens of thousands into Pleasanton, a bonanza for retailers and restaurants on Main Street that will be among the major beneficiaries. Although the events, themselves, including the Fair, don't provide much direct revenue to the city of Pleasanton, which has to pay for extra police and fire patrols, the sales taxes generated on gasoline, hotel rooms, food and at retail shops will give city coffers a significant boost at a time when Sacramento plans to take $2 million away from local property taxes to pay down the state's debt.

We can thank the Pleasanton Great Race Committee for tonight's prestigious show. This all-volunteer group helped persuade Great Race organizers to make Pleasanton an overnight stop, the last one in the 4,200-mile competition from Jacksonville, Fla., to Monterey, where the race ends on Sunday. That gives us a chance to enjoy the vintage cars and visit with their drivers all evening long after their parade. Sporting flags and decked out in red, white and blue banners, the cars will launch the Independence Day spirit early on, with members of the California National Guard posting colors and Pleasanton vocalist Carolyn Cardinalli singing "The Star Spangled Banner" to launch the downtown event. With food booths and downtown stores and restaurants open all evening, downtown will serve as a launching spot for this great Independence Day weekend. We'll be there, too. The Pleasanton Weekly, as one of the sponsors, will have staff on hand at the car we're backing to introduce you to the driver and navigator and give everyone a chance to sit in the driver's seat.

Sunday's picnic is another chance to get to know each other, so bring the kids, the family dog, blankets and chairs to what has become a festive and safe Fourth of July community celebration. Called "Celebrating Freedom and its Evolution since the Revolution," the free and all-volunteer event, now in its sixth year, includes songs, oratory, poetry and music during the picnic to remind us of our precious American heritage. Sunday's program will feature a talk by Mayor Tom Pico on "The Price of Freedom" and an original poem composed for the day by Pleasanton Poet Laureate Kirk Ridgeway, entitled "Declaration." Dressed as Uncle Sam, vocalist Ward Belding will perform solos and lead the audience in a patriotic singalong. Adding to the musical fanfare will be local vocalist William Derrick, accompanied by Assistant School Superintendent Sandra Lemmons, and a blending of voices and famous speeches by other school leaders: Principal Michael Kuhfal of Hearst Elementary; Vice Principal Dave Bolin of Pleasanton Middle School; and the school district's new Public Information Officer Myla Grasso.

Add to these the County Fair and a Saturday Farmers Market brimming with the best of summer's crops and it promises to be one of the best Independence Day holiday weekends ever, and all of it right in our own back yard.

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