The holiday brought the anticipated crowds, as the day after the air held the whiff of spent fireworks and volunteers handed out trash bags at beach entrances.

On Monday morning, before the parade, Dale McDowell, the public works director, was stationed at Broadway and Holladay for set-up.

“This is normal routine for setting up for parades,” McDowell said. “We’ve got the intersection coned off so traffic can flow around it. And everybody seems to be getting in position for the parade.”

The parade route was shorter this year; starting from Necanicum east to Holladay before heading to Broadway.

Meanwhile at the beach crews were already preparing for Monday night’s fireworks by cleaning up fire pits and getting the beat secured, he said.

Shortly after 10 a.m., a Seaside police officer led Boy Scouts, fire trucks and the subsequent cavalcade along the parade route, as visitors and parade-watchers raised flags and cheered.

In Gearhart, the city was packed along the parade route, from 10th Street and North Marion to Pacific Way and Cottage. Children, their parents and grandparents saluted the Fourth with music, dancing and candy along the way.

Although I was covering the parades for the newspaper, the morning began with news of a parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. I lived in Highland Park from the age of 7 to 15. The town in the 1960s and ’70s looked very different. But the spirit remains.

A friend at the Seaside parade said to me, “Are you working or here to enjoy the parade?”

I answered, “Both.”

I’ve been in touch with my Highland Park friends. The network is still close-knit. One of my childhood friends told me he was at the parade. He briefly told me what he saw. I’m not sure if he has processed it yet. I certainly haven’t.

I’m grateful our local parades were peaceful.