Calkins: Happy July Fourth, Memphis! Have a parade!
On July 4, 2023, parade goers greeted the Memphis Fire Department truck leading the High Point Terrace Independence Day parade. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Happy July 4, everyone! Wherever and however you choose to celebrate.
In these polarized times, let us join together in our love of parades, hot dogs, hamburgers, Popsicles, summer, days off, America and fireworks that are shot off between the hours of 9-11 p.m. on July 4, exclusively.
This is the 75th anniversary of the High Point Terrace Independence Day parade. Which makes it — according to the organizers, and why would they fib? — the oldest, continuously-running July Fourth parade in the city.
A tradition like that is worth preserving. Not because it is big and loud and spectacular. Because it connects people to each other and to the place they call home.
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