Infant Mabelle Fleck experienced her first Darlington Independence Day parade Saturday, and later on, her parents planned to bring her to her first fireworks show.
"It's so fun, doing all the firsts," Amber Fleck, of Street, said as she held her smiling 8-month-old daughter.
Fleck watched the Darlington Independence Day Parade, an annual tradition in downtown Darlington, with her daughter, husband and parents as they stood along Main Street.
The Darlington Independence Day Celebration, put on by the Darlington Lions Club, includes a parade followed by family entertainment and a fireworks show at dusk in the nearby Francis Silver Park.
"This is typically the spot we hang out, [then] we walk down to the field and watch the fireworks," said Fleck, who has been attending the parade since she was a child.
Her parents, Jim and Sherry Keithley, of Darlington, noted their family attends the parade each year, since it is close to home and not as crowded as Independence Day events in other parts of Harford County, such as Bel Air.
"It's still kind of small-town," Sherry Keithley said. "They throw out candy to the kids."
The parade route started at the Darlington Volunteer Fire Company on Castleton Road, then went left along Main Street and turned again on Shuresville Road, ending in Francis Silver Park.
Spectators, many who held American flags and wore red, white and blue clothing, lined both sides of Main Street and Shuresville Road.
Darlington resident Jim Bruce was the master of ceremonies; he called out the names of individuals and group parade participants as they passed the reviewing stand in front of the Darlington Pharmacy on Main Street.
Dave Weissert, the Darlington fire chief, was the grand marshal of the parade.
Bruce lauded Weissert for his service with the fire company, as well as his ongoing support of the Boy Scouts as a local troop committee member and the senior camp ranger at Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, "in recognition of volunteer spirit of neighbors helping neighbors."
There were 70 to 80 parade participants, according to Bruce. Spectators saw local elected officials, various fire trucks and ambulances, military vehicles, vintage Maryland State Police cruisers, local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and high school marching bands. Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, who lives in northern Harford, was a participant in Saturday's parade.
The parade lasted 30 to 40 minutes. It got a late start, as Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies were late in arriving to close the streets – Bruce apologized for the delay and thanked spectators for their patience.
He estimated later that 1,500 to 2,000 people attended.
"It was well-attended, great rides, great floats," Bruce said.
Tom Wetzel, who has lived in Darlington for 22 years, watches the parade each year. He rents an apartment in a house on Main Street. The front porch is decorated each year with American flags, flower boxes and a miniature wooden Uncle Sam holding a flag.
Wetzel said his landlords put out the decorations.
"It's fun, it's community," he said of the parade. "You can see a lot of people come out for it."
Karen Myers, Harford County's procurement director, and her husband, Tim, sat on chairs along Main Street as they waited for the parade to start.
The couple plans to move to Darlington from Bel Air early next month, and they are regular attendees at the Darlington parade.
"I have always like the fact that it's an old-fashioned type of community parade," Karen Myers said.
Tim Myers is the former facilities chief for the county government, but he took early retirement from the county last year and works for Maryland Environmental Service.
"It's reminiscent of old-time America, local people on trucks and tractors," Tim Myers said of the parade.
The Myers were among the many spectators who stood as members of a color guard, holding the American flag, passed.
"You come to Darlington, everyone remembers to stand up when the flag passes," Tim Myers said. "That's very important."