Kids invited to decorate, wear their patriotic best
(Seguin) – Patriotic Pride will be on display this Saturday evening thanks to Seguin’s youngest. Kids are invited to participate in the annual Freedom Fiesta Kiddie Parade. The parade hosted by the Guadalupe County Republican Women will help kick off this year’s Seguin Radio KWED’s Fourth of July celebration in downtown Seguin.
Kelly Follis, the coordinator for the event, says families are encouraged to grab their Fourth of July décor and enter their child in this year’s parade. She says not only is it free but there is no registration required.
“The Guadalupe County Republican Women love doing the Kiddie Parade. It started many, many years ago, probably 15 years ago with a little parade in the park on one of the mornings of Freedom Fiesta at the time. Now, we’ve moved it and KWED has been gracious to allow us to host this event as a kick-off event for Freedom Fiesta. It’s a family project. They can work on decorating their bike or their scooter or their little motorized vehicle or just dressing up in their patriotic best and coming down to see us. They get to follow Uncle Sam who is traditionally played by State Representative John Kuempel and he’ll be joining us again this year. It’s just a really great family memory time. So, they work on their entry into our parade, and they get to be a part of the parade and it’s a great time for parents, grandparents, friends and family to come out, take pictures, enjoy and hopefully, stay around and enjoy Freedom Fiesta,” said Follis.
Follis says although the parade is about participation, there are a few small prizes awarded for the top entries in the various categories. She says not only is it simple to enter but it’s free.
“It’s not about winning or losing. We do have prizes for the top 2 in each of our three categories which are walkers and then other riders that are riding in self-propelled vehicles and then motorized vehicles and they can decorate them as much or as little as they would like, and we have not extremely nice prizes but just some fun little prizes. So, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about coming out and having a good time and celebrating the country and celebrating the family,” said Follis.
Presenting awards will be Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen and Guadalupe County Pct. 2 Commissioner Drew Engelke.
Serving as judges will be Guadalupe County Treasurer Linda Douglass, County Clerk Teresa Kiel and State District Judge Bill Old.
The Kiddie Parade gets underway at 6 p.m. Saturday. Families are asked to be in line by 5:45 p.m.
Freedom Fiesta this year will welcome back kids activities plus a slate of food trucks, non-profit food booths and a beer garden. It will also feature live music by Texas Country Music nominee Jesse Raub Jr.
Freedom Fiesta is free. The celebration will be held from 6 to 11p.m. on Saturday in Central Park.