When Larry and Carol Sharp tried to roll out their old golf cart to decorate it for the Laguna Woods July 4 parade, it wouldn’t work.
Undeterred, the couple went out and bought a new one.
“We decorated it last night,” Larry Sharp said with a laugh as they and grandchildren Harry and Madeline and their dog Daisy sat in line at Clubhouse 1 ready to roll.
“We’ve joined every parade here for the Fourth of July. We weren’t about to miss this year,” said the 14-year residents of the retirement community.
Patriotism runs in the family: Carol Sharp’s mother was an Army nurse during World War II and her dad was a Marine.
“My mother-in-law outranked her husband. He had to salute her,” Larry Sharp said.
“Any day is a beautiful day in the United States, land of the free,” someone called out.
For Richard and Maggie Gardner, residents just since September, this was their first parade in the Village.
“We bought a golf cart. We’re up for the parade and the party,” said Richard Gardner. “We’ll party at least till sundown.”
Roughly 100 elaborately decorated carts rolled off at 11 a.m. to follow two designated routes, one taking off from Clubhouse 1, the other from Clubhouse 5, and both ending at Clubhouse 2 for a celebration with live music.
Streets and front lawns along the route held clapping and waving spectators cheering on carts representing Village clubs like the Electric Car Club, the Chinese American Club, the Aquadettes and the Laguna Woods Bible Club. American flags in every shape and size, from small hearts to near bedsheets, were everywhere.
American eagles were well-represented, with one large white one being kept blown up or deflated, depending on needs, by its own generator, run by Rhonda Guilin and Jennifer Brown.
“The generator is there to deflate the eagle when we drive through the tunnel,” they said. “We met such nice participants last year, we wanted to join in. Let freedom ring – we’re all Americans.”
The golf carts were joined by bikes with flags and patriotically dressed riders, at least one motor scooter and a cart defying description carrying a smiling driver.
Waving children and well-behaved dogs enlivened the scene.
Somewhere toward the back of the lineup, someone played “Who Let the Dogs Out,” at top decibel, while closer to the front, a subdued guitarist played patriotic music.
Hoots and whistles provided further accompaniment as the procession wound its way through the streets.
Not to overlook was one lone driver dressed in authentic Revolutionary War uniform in the midst of it all.