Applications being accepted for parade participation.

The Sunland Tujunga Shadow Hills Rotary Club is again hosting the annual Sunland Tujunga 4th of July Parade. This community event will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 4 on Foothill Boulevard at Summitrose Street then proceed down Foothill Boulevard ending at Sunland Boulevard.

It is free of charge for participants and spectators.

Every year the 4th of July parade boasts dozens of entries and draws thousands of spectators. It is the single best-attended community event in Sunland-Tujunga. Applications for entry in the parade are available at the club’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Sunlandrotary/.

The theme of this year’s parade is “Out of This World!” – black holes, outer space, science fiction will be highlighted … the sky is the limit. Participants and spectators are invited to bring out their inner Star Wars, ET, Star Trek and superheroes or channel their favorite science fiction movie!

The Rotary Club encourages creative floats and, for everyone’s safety, discourages throwing water balloons and other objects from the floats.

To ensure a safe parade experience for everyone, Foothill Boulevard will be closed starting at 9 a.m. from Apperson Street to Fenwick Street. Westbound traffic will be diverted onto Plainview Avenue and will be directed to continue on Hillrose Street. Eastbound traffic will be diverted onto Newhome Avenue and will be directed to continue on Apperson Street. All streets intersecting Foothill between Apperson and Fenwick will be barricaded to prevent vehicular access.

Elected officials who have confirmed for the event include U.S.

Congressman Adam Schiff, State Assemblymember Luz Rivas, Los

Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles City Attorney

Mike Feuer, board president of LA Public Works Kevin James and

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez. Other participants include the LAPD (including the Motorcycle Drill Team!), the LAFD, the Verdugo Hills High School baseball team, several equestrian groups including the California

Rangers, the American Legion, Village Poets, and some special surprises.

The long list of sponsors includes County Supervisor Kathryn Barger,

City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez who sponsored the tables and chairs for the police breakfast, corporate sponsors Crescenta Valley Weekly, Alpha Structural, Smart and Final Charitable Foundation (for support of the Verdugo Hills baseball team The Dons, with their All-City Coach Angel Espindola), and small business sponsors C&M Printing, who helped with printing and designing signs, banners, and T-shirts, The Fish Lady, Mark’s Lock and Key, Foothill Dental Care, Back Door Bakery and Café, who also supported the police breakfast, Golf Carts & Industrial Vehicles, Sierra Sign Images, and Corsica’s Italian Deli and Catering, which also supported for the police breakfast. Caruso’s, as always, kindly allows the use of its parking lot and external space as staging areas.

Individual community members have also stepped up to sponsor the parade. They include Dang Coffee, the Oldest Rock of Sunland Tujunga and others who prefer to remain anonymous.

A number of community organizations have also stepped up to sponsor this year’s parade. These include the Cañada Crescenta Democratic Club, the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council, the Sunland Tujunga Arts and Recreation Committee, the Village Poets, the Sunland-Tujunga Lion’s Club, and the McGroarty Arts Center.

Late member Michael Lucas, whose passion for this parade and whose legacy of community service continues to inspire the Rotary Club, is also acknowledged.

For further information, contact parade chair Sabrina Godinez at (310) 488-3030.