Happy Fourth of July!

Graham celebrated America’s Independence Day with a bang, kicking off the day with a Kiwanis Club Pancake Breakfast in the American Legion Building and ending the morning’s official events with the Fourth of July Parade. In the middle of both events was the annual “Red, White & You” event honoring the nation and its military personnel.

The parade and “Red, White & You” were coordinated and hosted by three local non-profit veteran service organizations: The American Volunteer Reserve, The FreedomCare Warrior Project and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8567. The parade started on Oak Street and headed south, then went east on Fourth Street, south on Elm Street, west on First Street and then north on Oak Street.

The judges for the parade entries previewed the entries from 10 to 11 a.m., and all entries were judged based on the interpretation of theme — Symbols of America — as well as on creativity and patriotism. The float "America’s War Heroes" by the VFW Post 8567 won first place by the judges. Second and third places went to Oak St. Baptist Church and the FreedomCare Warrior truck.

See more photos from the local Independence Day events in Wednesday’s edition of The Graham Leader.