As the floats, fancy cars and marching bands streamed down Bosley Avenue yesterday during the Towson Fourth of July parade, Norma Solomon, with her 3-year-old grandson at her side, let loose an impassioned speech directed at anyone within earshot on why she considers an event like this important.
"The community comes together," said Solomon, 61, of Towson. "Children. People of all ethnic groups. We're at peace. If we're not at peace no other day, we're at peace today when we see a parade. I love a parade."
Solomon had lots of company. Thousands flooded the streets throughout the Baltimore area -- from parades in Dundalk and Catonsville to "an old-fashioned July 4th Celebration" at Fort McHenry -- to commemorate the 231st anniversary of the nation's independence. Later, many planned to cap the day by watching fireworks displays scheduled in several communities.
But a string of fast-moving storms crossed the area beginning late yesterday afternoon, putting a damper on some holiday celebrations. In Baltimore's Inner Harbor, the annual fireworks display went off in the rain last night. In Catonsville, however, organizers postponed fireworks there because of the inclement weather.
The annual fireworks spectacle downtown was delayed for several minutes during a brief but torrential downpour as onlookers scampered under awnings and building entrances amid lightning and thunder. Some crowded under bus shelters, hurrying back to the harbor after about 15 minutes for the fireworks.
"It's such a great tradition," said Aldo Resendiz, a graduate student from Mexico who outlasted the storm with his wife and 2-month-old daughter. "We got a little wet, but it was worth it to watch and be with so many people celebrating this day. It's always so beautiful."
Tracy Baskerville, spokeswoman for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, said organizers considered beginning the fireworks early, but decided to wait for a small window without heavy rain after consulting with the National Weather Service.
"We had a good crowd," she said. "It wasn't as huge as it would have been, but a lot of people definitely stayed and waited the rain out."
The 90-minute Towson parade yesterday morning featured its usual assortment of Baltimore County political figures, community bands and revelers decked out, in some form or fashion, in the American flag.
Nick Wasielewski of Timonium wore a 2-foot-high hat draped in the stars and stripes. Wasielewski's wife and two friends wore the same hats, which they ordered off the Web.
"Not many chances you can walk around like this and not get ugly looks," said Wasielewski, 34.
James Clark, 39, of Accokeek also had on red, white and blue, but the colors came in the form of a Washington Nationals shirt. Clark, originally from Washington, said he wore the baseball team's emblem even though he knew he was in an area that often does not look kindly on sports from the District of Columbia.
It was Clark's first time at the parade. He attended it with his wife, Tiffany, a Baltimore native and the sister of local basketball legend Kurk Lee, and their five children.
"I love Baltimore," James Clark said. "I love the food, everything. But I've got to represent my hometown, you know."
The Towson parade, one of the earliest, was held under an overcast sky that kept the temperature pleasantly moderate -- a big difference from the sweltering heat that marked last year's politically charged regional parades. The conditions, though, weren't friendly to everyone.
Damon Crumpton, 33, pushed a cooler full of about 100 bottles of water alongside the parade.
Without people sweating buckets from the heat, business was a little slow, Crumpton said.
"I've seen better days," he said. "I'd have more business if it was hotter, but I'm here. I'm more of a have-fun guy at parades than anything else."
Later in the day, many of the participants of the Towson parade walked a route in Catonsville.
About 15 Baltimore County fire engines -- with horns blaring -- crept down Frederick Avenue to start the festivities. Firefighters playfully sprayed water on those who stood in front of the closed banks, law offices and neighborhood shops on the Catonsville's main street.
Ask longtime followers of this parade, and they say it is the best one around.
Close to crowd
Side streets such as Ingleside Avenue are so narrow that some of the state's top officials end up being just a few feet from the crowd.
Jane Ayers and her sister, Catherine Gearhard, watched as Gov. Martin O'Malley and U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski passed in front of the house in which they grew up.
About five years ago, their mother sold the house, and the building is now used as office space. But that doesn't stop the sisters, both of whom have married and moved away, from reclaiming their home once a year.
"My parents had lived in this home since 1933," said Ayers, who lives in Chestertown and is a minister. "They bought it as newlyweds. There were eight of us in this little house."
The sisters say they've come to this parade for more than five decades. "I came back home to celebrate the holiday," Ayers said. "It's my favorite day of the year."
Fort McHenry
At Fort McHenry, hundreds attended a ceremony at the national monument, which included a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, a fife-and-drum concert and the unrolling of a replica 30-by-42-foot Star-Spangled Banner that flew over the fort during the War of 1812.
For good measure, a cannon was fired every hour. Park workers said it was in honor of George Washington and the heroes of 1776.
"I thought the cannon would appeal to my boys," said Emily Moroney, of her two sons, Connor, 11 and Deven, 8. "And it did."
brent.jones@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Bradley Olson contributed to this article.