the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In a joint decision made this week, the Ridgewood Fourth of July Committee and the Village of Ridgewood announced that they will cancel the 110th annual Fourth of July Parade and the evening entertainment and fireworks display due to COVID-19 health concerns.
The committee made the difficult decision after considering the many aspects of planning, fundraising, staffing, and executing the events amid the public health concerns and economic uncertainty of the next few months.
“Our first priority is the health and safety of our community,” said Committee President Tara Masterson. “We must also be fiscally responsible and avoid penalties and cancellation fees. More importantly, the day’s events are entirely funded by community businesses and private donations, and we understand the difficult situation many of these individuals, families, and small businesses are now in.”
“We are incredibly grateful to the community for their continued support of the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration,” said Masterson. “We look forward to making the 2021 celebration extra special.”
The committee plans to keep the tradition alive by hosting the annual flag raising in Wilsey Square at 9am on July 4th. Throughout the committee’s 110-year history there have been years where the parade and/or fireworks were not possible, but a flag raising has always been held. The committee is exploring options for a virtual flag raising to be live streamed in an effort to limit the number of attendees should social distancing mandates still be in effect.
The Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration is organized by the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration, Inc., an all-volunteer, non-profit community group. The Ridgewood tradition began in 1910 when the local papers, the civic section of the Woman’s Club and the Ridgewood Fire Department joined forces to create a “safe and sane” holiday with an emphasis on Patriotism. All aspects of the day’s events, including parade, fireworks, bands, evening performers, insurance, and police and fire personnel are funded by voluntary contributions from businesses and individuals.
Visit www.ridgewoodjuly4th.com for more information and to Support the Tradition.
sad but not unexpected…I always look forward to the parade and fireworks…
Smart move. There’s always next year. People will still have parties in their backyard that’s all. And then they can watch it on TV that’s the best anyway.
I am so sad
we’ve become such a bunch of smowflake, pansy lemmings…. it’s very sad.
Relax you’ll be OK. What happens if we had a real bad rainstorm for a few days and They couldn’t reschedule it and what . They’ll be many more days of parades and fireworks.
Last year the fireworks was a disaster. Lucky nobody got hurt. Or killed. And for the parade same old shit. People are sick of seeing fire engines. We don’t need every town around here bringing their shit to the parade. If you want to parade have a small parade not four hours of the same shit every year. It’s getting sickening.
What about the memorial day run. Is that still on , or are they talking about Canceling or delaying-that
https://theridgewoodblog.net/the-ridgewood-run-postponed-to-september-7th/
Well that’s a good thing that’s a good cause. Thank you
OMG you mean we can’t see chairs lined up on the parade rout for a month before? So sad!!! #gottosavemespace
Everyone stay safe, stay home, and light up a fatty. It’s what Thomas Jefferson would’ve done.
Thomas Jefferson would have called Cuomo and Murphy Tyrants and had them tar and feathered
I got to say that’s one nice thing about not having the parade. He’s seen those ugly sheep filthy rotted out lawn chairs lined up on the parade route what bullshit who starred that. What bullshit you bring your chair first come first serve what the hell is this talk about looking like shit, very cheesy. No parade this year no chairs and of story. Next year they should have an No lie just like every other town you bring your chair in and take it out the day of. People need to grow up and learn how to be slobs how many we bring the chairs two weeks before chain them up utilize them for the parade and then leave them there.