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Happy Birthday, America!

Stormy morning no match for Dysart’s July 4 celebration

A parade participant driving an antique Oliver tractor down Dysart’s Main Street, smiles as she waves to the crowds lining the parade route on Monday, July 4, during the Dysart Lions Club Grand Parade. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
​'Happy Birthday America' proclaims a Kiddie Parade entry in Dysart on Sunday, July 3. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
A young parade enthusiast smiles broadly and raises his arms in celebration after successfully scooping up some candy during Dysart’s July 4 Grand Parade. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Members of Dysart’s third and fourth-grade summer baseball league squirt water guns at the crowd from their parade float during Dysart’s Grand Parade held this past Monday, July 4. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Members of both the Clutier and Dysart American Legions ride in a parade float during the Dysart Lions Club Grand Parade held on July 4 in downtown Dysart.
PHOTO BY RUBY F. BODEKER
A parade participant has her face painted by Becky Webb (left) in the Dysart City Park following the Fourth of July Kiddie Parade on July 3. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
A young girl clutches a handful of candy moments before throwing it to the crowd from inside a Brandt grain cart pulled by a tractor as part of Youngblut Ag’s float in the July 4 Grand Parade in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Republican candidate for Iowa House District 76 Derek Wulf (left) and his wife Dresden Wulf (right) wave to the crowd during Dysart’s Grand Parade on Monday, July 4, while driving/riding an antique McCormick Farmall Cub tractor Derek’s grandfather bought new from the factory in 1948. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Yay, USA! Time to party! Miles 'Donut' Reedy (right), 5, and his cousin Gus Klima, 7 months, get into the swing of the holiday in Dysart City Park following the Kiddie Parade on Sunday, July 3. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
Dysart Mayor and parade Grand Marshal Tim Glenn waves while riding as a passenger in a classic car along the Dysart Lions Club Grand Parade route on Monday, July 4, in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
A Kiddie Parade participant pictured having a blast on his ride-on John Deere on July 3 in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Soren M. Peterson
Olivia Scott reacts after being soaked by parade float participants with squirt guns on July 4 in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
PHOTO BY RUBY F. BODEKER
Kiddie Parade participants – including a youngster advertising the newly-opened Dysart Drive In – queue ahead of the parade on Sunday, July 3, in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Soren M. Peterson
PHOTO BY RUBY F. BODEKER
A Tootsie Roll drops from an auger on a "candy combine" during Dysart's July 4 Grand Parade.
Republican candidate for Tama County Supervisor Curt Hilmer (left) and his family wave to the crowd from their parade float on July 4 in downtown Dysart. –Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker
PHOTO BY RUBY F. BODEKER

The stormy weather that made its way across Iowa the morning of Monday, July 4, may have caused some holiday revelers to alter their plans, but the weather proved no match for Dysart’s annual 4th of July Celebration which began at noon – an hour and a half later than scheduled – with the Lions Club Grand Parade.

With Mayor Tim Glenn serving as the parade’s Grand Marshall, Dysart Police Officer Jeremy Stenda and members of the Dysart and Clutier American Legions led the way as the parade made its way from the Union Middle School parking lot east across town to the city park before turning north onto Main Street for the grand promenade.

A multitude of parade floats comprised the roughly 30-minute parade including small, antique Oliver tractors and mammoth modern-day ag equipment; Dysart, Traer, and La Porte City emergency vehicles; local organizations and businesses; Union school clubs and teams; candidates running for political office including Randie Brodigan (D-Dysart) and Curt Hilmer (R-Dysart) for Tama County Supervisor and Derek Wulf (R-Hudson) for the Iowa House; among others.

Hundreds of people turned out for the annual two-day celebration organized and sponsored by the nonprofit Club Dysart and Dysart Lions Club. The event officially kicked off the night before with the Kiddie Parade that drew well over 100 youthful participants on bikes, scooters, trikes, & ride-ons, as well as those in wagons, strollers, & caregivers’ arms.

Much like the patriotic Grand Parade, the July 3 Kiddie Parade was led by Dysart Police Officer Jeremy Stenda, but began at the corner of Main and Clark before proceeding south to the city park.

Officer Ray Brady corralled all the young participants moments ahead of the July 3 parade by leading them in the Pledge of Allegiance before sending them on their way with the reminder, “This is a parade, not a race – don’t embarrass Officer Stenda by passing him.”

Following both parades, festivities continued in Dysart City Park including games and activities for kids of all ages, a tenderloin supper (July 3) sponsored by the Dysart Lions Club, a variety of food and beverage vendors, a pie contest (July 4), the Wolf Creek Players (July 4), BINGO, kiddie tractor pull (July 4), and much more.

The celebration wound down with a Community Choir performance at 8:30 p.m. in the park gazebo followed by the National Anthem at dusk.

Shortly after dusk, colorful fireworks lit up the sky over Dysart, bringing the festivities to a close and reminding those in attendance of the inspiration America continues to provide to both its own citizens and the rest of the world.