With his booming voice and passion for acting, Bob Russell was a natural choice to be in the forefront of the annual Longfellow Fourth of July Parade.

For years, Russell was a driving force behind the community event, where he wore many hats, from marching in the parade as a representative of his street to emceeing the opening ceremony at Longfellow Elementary School.

This year will be the first in more than three decades that Russell, a longtime Columbia resident, is not involved in the parade. He died last August at age 66 of esophageal cancer.

But for one of Columbia's oldest neighborhoods, where residents say patriotism and community go hand in hand, the automatic response was to make sure the quirky holiday tradition lived on.

"I've gotten quite a bit of calls — 'Are we even going to have (a parade)?' " said Bob's wife, Barbara Russell, who has taken over the role of parade organizer this year along with their son, Danny. "Well, of course we're going to have one."

Russell, 64, said she had been planning the parade since late May, when applications for special events permits are due to the county for Fourth of July celebrations. "It really doesn't take that long to put it together," she said.

She said her main responsibilities have been obtaining the permit, which involves coordinating the county's police presence at the event; and inviting community members, such as the county executive, County Council members and members of the Harper's Choice Village Board.

Longfellow resident Claire Lea, who helped to found the parade in 1971, said Russell's efforts are keeping the event going.

"It seems like it just happens, but you have to get a parade permit, you have to get fire trucks… you have to get the beer and the peanuts and the soft drinks. Most people think it just happens by magic, but it doesn't. It takes a lot of work and a lot of organizing," Lea said.

Over the years, coordinating has kept the Russells so busy that last summer was the first time Bob got to see the parade from start to finish.

"I'm actually not positive that I've gotten to see the entire parade," Barbara Russell added. "If I have, it was a long time ago."

In past years, she has helped sell T-shirts for the event and has marched in the parade with the League of Women Voters of Howard County.

Russell's sons pledged at Bob's memorial service to make sure the parade happened this year. Barbara decided to take on the responsibility, as well to make sure everything went smoothly.

"It's bittersweet, but he surely would have wanted it to happen," she said. "I know he would have been very disappointed if it didn't get done."

Begun 41 years ago by a group of Longfellow neighbors reminiscing about childhood Fourth of July celebrations, the parade hasn't missed a year yet, rain or shine. Sometimes, original participants said, that meant a handful of people marching in raincoats. Most years, though, the streets are full of floats, cars and kids on bikes.

There are no forms to fill out to register for the event, so every year comes with surprises. Past parades have included a "drill team" of neighbors marching with power drills, floats with wacky themes like the cicada invasion and costumed people impersonating celebrities.

"You never know who's going to show up. Anybody who wants to, can come," said Lea.

Bob and Barbara Russell got involved with the parade shortly after moving to the neighborhood with their children in 1975. Fifteen years ago, Bob assumed the role of organizer when many of the parade's founders decided to pass the torch.

"He took it over, and he even made it better," Lea said. "He added his own style to it."

Russell's friends said his personality was well suited to lead the parade.

"Bob was very outgoing and could be very loud," Linda Nedzbala, a neighbor and parade founder, said.

She remembered the year that Russell brought a megaphone to announce results of the softball game that follows the parade. "He had really loud speakers, and I thought it was just blaring," she recalled. "I would come up and pull the plug on him."

The softball game, between the Eliots Oak Nuts and the Hesperus Wrecks — teams are made up of residents from each side of Longfellow's two main streets — has been a tradition since the parade began. Another tradition was Russell's stars-and-stripes shorts. Neighbor Sue Allison, a Longfellow resident for 15 years, said she remembered Russell wearing flag shorts to every parade.

"Bob was really the mayor of our neighborhood," Allison said.

Lea said she couldn't imagine Longfellow without its Fourth of July parade. When she and other founders started the tradition, her children were in elementary school. This year, her granddaughters, ages 9 and 11, will be at the parade.

"I think it will go on forever," Lea said.

"There's just a really down-home feel to the whole thing," Allison said of the parade. "It does your heart good. It makes you feel extremely patriotic and it's a great tradition to pass down to the kids." Her granddaughter will be attending her first Longfellow parade this year.

Bob Russell will be named the grand marshal of this year's parade, an honorary title given to a notable member of the community. Past grand marshals have included Maggie Brown, a former Columbia Association president, and state Sen. Jim Robey.

As for how many people will turn out for the event — well, no one can be sure.

"This may be the longest parade ever," Barbara Russell said. "You just don't know."