Vietnam War veteran Lee Artman, a 43-year Santa Barbara local, rode into Montecito’s annual Fourth of July parade in a pristine 1976 Cadillac Eldorado on Tuesday.
Artman, who has attended the event for two decades, said he continues to participate in order to “support the troops.”
Participants in the celebration advanced less than half a mile — a relatively short procession for the village’s 22nd annual celebration at Manning Park.
A motorcade of antique cars and decorated jeeps drove along San Ysidro Road, which cuts between the main area of the county park and its lower fields below.
The event featured familiar elements of the yearly patriotic holiday.
Morning festivities kicked off with a 7:30 a.m. community pancake breakfast at the Montecito Fire Protection District.
After the 11:30 a.m. parade, attendees made their way down to the post-procession area, which included barbecue stands and a face-painting station for the children.
A number of children honored in the parade represented the local All Saints-by-the-Sea Parish School, while others were Boy Scouts from Montecito’s Troop 33.
Nearly everyone in attendance was clad in classic red, white and blue clothing.
The annual village event is hosted by the Montecito Association, a local nonprofit organization. The association hosts both the Fourth of July celebration and Beautification Day, an annual community event dedicated to picking up trash in Montecito.
Richard Mineards, a 10-year Montecito resident, appeared in the parade dressed as King George III, the British monarch under whom Great Britain lost its American colonies in the Revolutionary War.
Mineards called his annual choice of costume “appropriate,” as he himself is originally from England. He rode in the procession alongside a friend who dressed as President George Washington, completing what Mineards called a “dynamic duo.”
“It’s a very short parade; it packs a lot of punch into four blocks,” Mineards said. “It’s great fun.”
— Noozhawk intern Shomik Mukherjee can be reached at jmukherjee@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
