Struthers celebrates holiday with a parade

July 5, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

STRUTHERS

If you were curious about the Struthers parade’s main theme, all you needed to do was look at Valerie Wilson’s balloons and Mary Hallewell’s attire.

“Every time we get the opportunity, we’re here. It’s always good to see people you know,” said Hallewell, who wore a red shirt, a white pair of socks and a blue pair of shorts while holding a small American flag.

Sitting next to Hallewell was Wilson, who held onto a plastic pipe with 40 to 50 red, white and blue balloons wrapped around it.

Hallewell and Wilson, both of whom live on nearby state Route 616, were among thousands of spectators who watched Monday’s annual Struthers Fourth of July parade, which got under way around noon at, then returned to, the Struthers Plaza on Fifth Street.

The gathering exemplified the importance of family, friends and freedom, observed Wilson, a former band director at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.

Thick masses of people lined both sides of Fifth to take in the three-mile parade, which was filled with patriotic colors, themes and patterns.

Participants included the Aut Mori Grotto clowns, the Mahoning Valley Green Party, Struthers Rotary, businesses such as Save-a-Lot stores and McAllister’s Homemade Ice Cream, members of a local Red Hat Society and the Struthers High School marching band, cheerleaders and girls basketball team. In March, the team won the Division II Austintown District tournament.

Numerous vintage cars, such as a 1933 Packard limousine, as well as old firetrucks, including a 1930 model with a wooden ladder, were featured. In addition, several local fire departments were represented.

Also part of the event were drawings to win tickets to see the Mahoning Valley Scrappers as well as the Cleveland Indians and Browns.

This was the first time in the parade for Jeff Seltzer, part owner of McAllister’s Homemade Ice Cream, which opened in April in the plaza. His parade entry was truck bearing a banner listing his business. The new business serves 18 regular and several specialty flavors, said Seltzer, adding that the parade gave him a good opportunity to connect with residents.

Assisting Seltzer was his sister, Pamela D. Krausz of Poland, an independent Avon products representative, and friend Keith Lathrop, of Boardman.

Krausz, who ran a hair-styling business in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years, said she wanted to assist her brother, and encourage others who wish to start a business.

Lathrop, who moved to the area several years ago from Boston and owns a vehicle-detailing business, said Krausz informed him of the parade, and he agreed to help Seltzer.

“I was excited and wanted to get involved,” he added.

The parade had roughly 120 entries, which is on par with last year’s event, noted Stacey Newyear, event co-chairwoman, who said she was very pleased with the turnout.

“You can go on the three-mile trek, and all you see is faces,” Newyear said.

The parade began in 1976 but has been held every year since about 1980, said John Medvec, the parade’s main organizer and chairman.

The Struthers Baseball League ran the event through most of the 1980s before the Struthers Business Association took over, recalled Medvec, who is Newyear’s father.

This year’s parade was to support the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Medvec said, adding that he was grateful to participants and observers.

“They wanted to take one day a year to show they’re thankful for what they have,” he said. “It’s a plus all the way around.”