A Carrboro 4th!

This year’s annual Fourth of July celebration in Carrboro featured record temperatures. With a high temperature of 100 degrees, a heat index of 110, and the NCDHHS urging people to stay indoors, there may have been lower attendance to outdoor activities than most years. However, the people of Carrboro were not deterred.

Dressed up in red, white, and blue, pushing decorated bikes and wagons, and even carrying patriotic dogs, Carrboreans flooded the lawn outside Weaver Street Market at 101 East Weaver Street. The day began with live music and bicycle decorating, followed by the costume contest and annual People’s Parade to the Town Commons, where the Carrboro Farmer’s Market was in full swing.

Carrboro Town staff member Emery Polk has worked the Fourth of July celebration for the past three years. She said every year they make it a little bit shorter in order to adapt to the heat. While the parade usually ends in a big carnival with many moving pieces, this year, with the Carrboro Farmers’ Market coinciding with the celebration, the workday was shorter for staff working the event.

“I think, overall, we're all really happy about it because people like the Farmers’ Market a lot more than the other things that you have to set up and break down, and I think it ultimately draws the same [size] crowd, but in a much more sustainable way, that's more focused on our local workers.” Polk said.

Polk said this year’s celebration featured a longer pre-parade event than usual. The pre-event festivities started at 9:30 and lasted until the parade began at 10:50. Polk said she hopes the longer pre-event will help avoid any heat-related injuries. 

Another Town staff member, Grayce Curry, was working the event for the first time after starting work with the Town in September. 

“We're really lucky that Weaver Street Market is here, that they have this wonderful gathering space for the town to come together, and for the town to put on events like this that help celebrate our community and togetherness,” Curry said.

Curry, who was working at the pre-parade event, said she was looking forward to the parade, and loved seeing all of the kids and families come out for the Fourth. 

One family competing in the costume contest was the Wojciks. Leading up to the announcement of the winners, contestant Deb Wojcik and her daughter, both clad head to toe in patriotic garb, were excited. In prior years they’d gotten second place, while her daughter came in first with her bike. This year, Wojcik said her daughter had been planning her costume for months.

“We wanted to celebrate the Fourth of July by doing something fun,” Wojcik’s daughter said. 

All the planning paid off, and the Wojcik family won first place. When asked about the win, Wojcik’s daughter said it felt really good to win.

“We’re going to have to step up our game.” Wojcik said, to maintain a winning streak in next year’s competition.

After the announcement of the winners, the People’s Parade took place, where all of the bikes, wagons, and strollers were pushed alongside anyone who wanted to join for the short walk from Weaver Street Market to the Town Commons. The parade lasted about ten minutes and was led by the Bulltown Strutters.

The day continued with activities at Town Commons, including a puppet show with Jeghetto, a pie-eating contest, face-painting, live music, and more. The event closed with the Town’s 13th annual reading of “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" by Frederick Douglass at the Century Center.

“It's such a great event.” Wojcik said, “We love it. It's such a good community, everybody coming together, it’s a great way to celebrate Carrboro.”