I love a parade, the tramping of feet,

I love every beat I hear of a drum.

I love a parade, when I hear a band

I just want to stand and cheer as they come.

— Lyrics by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler

A lot of people in Butler County would agree with the 1931 song written for a musical revue at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club.

Several municipalities — Slippery Rock, Mars, Zelienople and Harrisville — will celebrate the nation’s birth on the Fourth of July with a parade and other events.

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The parade in Mars caps off a day of fun and food trucks in the downtown area, according to Anastacia Nelson, the event’s organizer.

Nelson said Mars’ Fourth of July activities will run from noon to 4 p.m. Monday centered around the flying saucer sculpture downtown.

There will be food trucks and activities geared toward children such as a balloon artist, a temporary tattoo artist, a stylist applying temporary hair colors and assorted crafts.

The parade is scheduled to start at 3 p.m., said Nelson, and go from Beaver Street to Pittsburgh Street and end at the post office on Grand Avenue.

“We are trying to get a hold of a lot of the local first responders. There will also be a pet parade and a bike parade. I like to see the kids’ bikes and pets all dressed up,” she said. The Mars Area High School Marching Band, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and floats will also be in the parade.

The third-generation Mars resident said the borough was having trouble finding volunteers to plan the parade and activities when she stepped forward.

“This is my first year doing this. It’s a lot of work. I’m learning this year,” said Nelson, who credits fellow volunteers Bonnie Forsythe and Renea Pomeroy with helping get the Fourth of July festivities and parade organized.

“I love seeing kids have fun,” said Nelson.

There are fireworks planned at dusk.

Nelson said she looks forward to people gathering together to watch the sky show.

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Harrisville Mayor Gary Hughes said the parade in his town will kick off at 11 a.m. Monday at the fire hall, go down Route 8 and then back to the community park.

“It will take an hour to 90 minutes,” Hughes said of the parade that will include a color guard from American Legion Post 852, fire engines, restored antique farm tractors, floats from area businesses, and a contingent of Slippery Rock University physician assistant students.

Hughes explained SRU bought the old elementary school in Harrisville and converted it into a teaching facility for physician assistants and occupational therapists.

After the Harrisville parade ends in the community park, Hughes said there will be a performance by gospel singer Dan Schall and twin dedications of park features.

The new walking trail in the park will be dedicated to the late Jack Emmett, a walking devotee, while the park’s playground will be dedicated to Tyler Davis, a young fatal accident victim.

There will be music and food trucks in the park all day. The satellite Rotary Club will set up a cornhole section to raise money for a permanent cornhole area in the park.

Hughes said Harrisville’s parade goes back a number of years. “The people doing it now, Dave and Carolyn Martin, have done it for eight years. They do a fantastic job. It’s first rate,” the mayor said.

Harrisville will have a fireworks display at dusk.

“Even though the cost of fireworks is 40% higher than last year, it will be as good a show as it ever was,” said Hughes.

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Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo said his borough’s third annual Independence Day celebration will run from 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday on a blocked off South Main Street in the borough. Free parking will be at the borough parking lot on Elm Street at the Center Presbyterian and Highland Presbyterian churches.

There will be food vendors, face painting, a caricaturist’s booth and music by J’s Song and Light.

Longo said a fireworks show will begin at 9:45 p.m. Saturday launched from the Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation.

“Saturday is more conducive. The Fourth falls on a Monday this year. A lot of people have to go back to work on Tuesday. With the event on Saturday, people will have Sunday off. We have it on the Saturday closest to the Fourth,” said Longo.

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Zelienople Mayor Thomas Oliverio expects a larger-than-normal crowd for Monday’s Zelienople Fourth of July parade because of the presence of the traveling replica of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Four Corners Park at Main Street and Grandview Avenue.

It is a replica of the monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified that is located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

“It’s going to bring out a lot of people. There’s going to be quite a few veterans in that parade,” said Oliverio.

The parade will feature a horse-drawn hearse carrying a flag-draped casket and a riderless horse.

The parade, organized by the Zelienople Rotary Club in a longstanding tradition, will start at 11 a.m. on East Grandview at High Street and head down South Main Street to East Beaver Street before it ends at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School, Pittsburgh Street.

The Parade Grand Marshal is Adel Fatur. She has been a resident of Zelienople for more than 30 years. She is very active with the Zelienople Historical Society and is the organizer of the Traveling Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that will be displayed in Four Corners Park from Friday through Tuesday.

“There will be a lot of additional veteran and patriotic displays in the parade to honor the Traveling Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” said parade co-chair and Rotary Club secretary Neal Jackson. “Adel has also arranged to include a giant American flag in the parade, which I think is a first for our community.”

The Rotary Club of Zelienople is also recognizing resident Randy Hart in this year’s parade as the recipient of the “Doc” Viola “Service Above Self” Community Award. Hart, who is also a member of the Zelienople Historical Society, grew up in Zelienople and is committed to tracking and preserving the historical aspects of the community.

The borough will sponsor fireworks at dusk. The Pittsburgh Philharmonic Orchestra will play in the community park prior to the fireworks show.