By the numbers, Towson's annual Fourth of July parade on Monday morning added up to memorable time for participants and viewers alike — thousands of people, 16 marching bands, more than 100 other units, one 13-foot-tall Turkey Hill cow and one Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.
For many area families the parade which began at 10:30 a.m. and filled downtown Towson with music, classic cars, patriotic floats, performers and fire engines, has become as much of a yearly tradition as the holiday itself.
Kathy Fader of Cockeysville lived in Towson for 36 years and watched her son Matt perform in the parade as a member of the Calvert Hall College High School band in the early 1990s. She returned Monday with her son and grandchildren, who now live in Ellicott City, bringing three generations of Faders together to watch the parade.
Larry Harback, 77, of Parkville, came to the parade by himself Monday, but first came in the early 1960s with his daughter, who is now 50. He still spends the holiday with his daughter, but can't leave for her house until after the parade.
"We have to plan around the parade every year," Harback said.
He said he's missed a couple of parades over the years and called himself a traitor for the one year he went to the parade in Dundalk instead, but always finds himself back on Bosley Avenue when the Fourth rolls around.
"It seems to grow every year," Harback said. "It wasn't as big when I began coming, but it was still very interesting."
Louise DeLaVergne lives in Southland Hills and, like Harback, returned to the parade that she enjoyed with her now-grown children when they were young.
Roseanne Murray, 79, of Rodgers Forge, was at the parade with her daughter, Susan Bardel. Murray said they usually sit on Bosley, but enjoyed a different view at the end of the parade route on Washington Avenue Monday.
"I loved everything," Murray said. "I'm amazed at the level of talent that comes here. I think they all do a fabulous job."
Murray said she's tried to make the parade every year since moving from Florida in 1998.
But for others, Monday's parade was the first.
Sherry Eubanks, 34, of Loch Raven, was at her first Towson Area Fourth of July parade with her three children: Taylor, 8, Christopher, 7, and Tyson, 2.
Taylor enjoyed the performance by the Parkville cheerleaders, while Christopher called the Baltimore Marching Ravens his favorite of the day.
Dawn Parks, 29, of Parkville, brought her 10-month-old daughter Madelyn to the parade, another first for both mother and daughter. Though Parks grew up in Parkville, she only heard about the parade this year. She said Madelyn was enjoying the bands, a common refrain among parade-goers.
Sixteen marching bands participated in the parade, with the Marching Ravens and the Calvert Hall marching band providing some local flavor to the diverse musical lineup.
Others made a bit of a longer trip. The Philippine Heritage Band traveled from Toronto, the Bertha-Hewitt High School Marching Band came to Towson from Bertha, Minn., while other bands came from Georgia, New York, andPennsylvania.
Emily Perl, 46, and her daughter Mora marched in the parade with her Girl Scout troop from Stoneleigh.
The girls enjoyed giving out candy, one of many aspects of the parade that supply what Perl called "easy joy."
Perl was concerned that the walk would be taxing on the girls. Professional outfits like the Marching Ravens were prepared for the heat, with a crew walking beside the band supplying water to the musicians.
Less-experienced marchers like Mora, her friend, Katie Scholl, 7, of Stoneleigh, and the rest of the Girl Scouts were sustained by the cheering crowds that lined the streets.
"I thought it went really fast," Perl said. "The applause was invigorating. It gave us a lot of energy."