PORT CARBON — The Port Carbon Citizens Committee celebrated the Fourth of July the old-fashioned way — a red-white-and-blue extravaganza of floats, marchers and fire trucks.
Known as the Port Carbon Baby Parade, the event was held for the 37th year Friday morning in observance of the nation’s 249th anniversary.
“This is about tradition,” said Deniece Krater, the committee’s spokesperson. “We’re celebrating Independence Day the way we were brought up to do.”
Starting on Coal Street, near the Palo Alto bridge, the line of march meandered through the borough to the Port Carbon playground.
Pottsville’s Third Brigade Band led the parade, playing the National Anthem and other patriotic marches.
Andrew Smink plays with a band during an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
Along the route, hundreds of spectators gathered on front porches, sidewalks and the bridge over Mill Creek on Washington Street near the Port Carbon Fire Company.
Parents pulled youngsters in wagons decorated with red-white-and-blue streamers. An entire division of the parade was devoted to children on bicycles.
In all, Krater said, just under 100 children participated in the parade.
An antique pickup truck pulled a float occupied by Schuylkill County Fair royalty. The themes of other floats included Peanuts and Charlie Brown, “Let Freedom Ring” and President George Washington.
Pottsville Maroons reenactors in uniform marched in support of the 100th anniversary of the former NFL team’s 1925 championship season, to be celebrated Aug. 16 with a banquet at Mountain Golf Course, Barnesville.
A team of draught horses from Leiby Carriage Service, Tamaqua, pulled an open air trolley.
Pottsville School District majorettes participated in the parade.
The 2025 Majorette campers perform during an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
Robert and Missy Petrozino turned out in support of their daughter, Izzy, who’s a majorette.
“It’s nice that the parade gives the majorettes an opportunity to show off their talent,” Missy said.
Krater, Pottsville school district’s transportation supervisor, coordinates the district’s majorette and band front programs.
No parade is complete without fire trucks, and Port Carbon’s was no exception.
Led by apparatus from Port Carbon’s Goodwill Fire Company No. 1, units from Palo Alto, Saint Clair, Schuylkill Haven and Pottsville participated in the parade.
In keeping with its patriotic theme, the centerfold of the parade’s program book displayed an Independence Day timeline.
The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, before a crowd summoned by the Liberty Bell. Every July 4, the Liberty Bell is tapped, not rung, 13 times in honor of the original 13 colonies. The White House held its first Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1801, according to the timeline.
Awards were presented to participants following the parade in the borough playground. A list of winners has not been released.
Port Carbon continued its Fourth of July celebration with its annual fireworks display Friday night on monument hill overlooking the borough.
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Eddie Yeneshosky, left, and Brent Setlock-Yeneshosky, 8, right, ride in an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Gavin, 7, and Avery Alexander, 10, ride in an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Penny the dog rides in Rep. Tim Twardzik’s car during an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Little Miss Macie Spickler rides in the Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Firetrucks round out the Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Eddie Yeneshosky, left, and Brent Setlock-Yeneshosky, 8, right, ride in an Independence Day parade in Port Carbon Friday, July 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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