EDITOR’S NOTE — This story has been corrected to reflect that the Captain Joseph House Foundation is sponsoring the music at City Pier, not the Red Lion Hotel. Betsy Reed Schultz, founder of the foundation, is paying for the music before the fireworks from her own personal funds.
“Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, July 4
PORT ANGELES — Fourth of July in Port Angeles will begin and end with eyes fixed on the sky.
Those lined up for today’s 6 p.m. parade, in which nearly 100 entries will pass by, will look up to watch as a fly-over by the Diamond Point Swift Formation Team opens the festivities.
The parade route will begin on Lincoln Street near the Clallam County Courthouse, head north and turn west at First Street to end at South Valley Street.
The Diamond Point Swift Formation Team will fly in a five-plane formation of Globe Swifts, making two passes over the parade route, following First Street from east to west, then returning from west to east.
The planes are two-seat classic aircraft built in military plants in 1946-47. Features and styling were heavily influenced by World War II aircraft.
The aeronautic team is a group of active and retired military and professional civilian pilots who have been involved in formation flying since the mid-1990s.
A Coast Guard helicopter fly-over was a long-standing Port Angeles parade tradition, but it was canceled in 2013, when government sequestration eliminated the budget.
However, the Diamond Point team scored points with the crowds at the parade when they volunteered to make a fly-over in the Coast Guard’s stead — and provided a show of five planes trailing stunt smoke along the parade route.
“We had a lot of positive feedback,” said Samantha Oak of Kitsap Bank, which sponsors the parade.
The parade will be followed by concerts on City Pier, off Railroad Avenue near Hollywood Beach.
Captain Joseph House Foundation will sponsor the live music from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., keeping the festive mood going until the fireworks display begins.
Jim Lind and The Trespassers, made up of Gordon Bowlby and Rufus Perry, will perform classic rock and roll, hit country and blues from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Fat Chance — John Christensen, Jeff Joaquin, Joel Nilsen and Max Fernandes — will play hits from the 1950s to the 1980s from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Once it gets dark at about 10 p.m., the public fireworks show will begin, showering lights and color over the Port Angeles Harbor for some 20 minutes.
The display, sponsored by Wave Broadband, will be shot from the base of Francis Street.
The public will not be permitted at the Francis Street site.
The show is best viewed from City Pier or the Waterfront Trail.
Own funds
Betsy Reed Schultz, founder of the Captain Joseph House Foundation, is paying for the music before the fireworks from her own personal funds.
“Captain Joseph House Foundation celebrates July 4th 2014, the anniversary of our freedom as a result of veterans throughout our American history.” she said in a statement.
“We thank this community for their support and generosity for building hope and healing in honoring our Gold Star families who will visit and respite here in the ‘Authentic Northwest.'”
Schultz is converting her former Tudor Inn bed and breakfast at 1108 S. Oak St. into a haven — “a home away from home” — for families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
The house is named for her son, Army Capt. Joseph Schultz, a Green Beret who was killed in action in Afghanistan on May 29, 2011.
