For many of our holidays here in the USA, the fun actually starts the night before.
It’s Christmas Eve that kicks off that universal celebration – and when they say, Santa Claus rides with his reindeer and sleigh. How could we end an old year and start a new one without New Year’s Eve?
Even Halloween is in fact the celebration of All Hallows Eve—of which, the day that follows is to honor saints, not ghosts or goblins—sorry kids. To many who love the United States and what it stands for, nothing defines it better than The Fourth of July, or as it is properly titled “Independence Day.”
So why don’t we start celebrating that holiday the previous evening? Starting this year, there will be an event in Seal Beach to do just that.
“Band on the Sand” is beach-themed party that will take place starting at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 3. It will happen down by the mouth of the San Gabriel River, next to the jetty on the very edge of the seaside village, overlooking the waves and water at the Orange and LA county line.
“People will just be getting off work and they have the next day (July 4) off, so they can start enjoying their holiday,” said Rosie Ritchie, whose Miss Seal Beach Pageant organization is spearheading the event.
“Band on the Sand is an event I would like to see become something our community can enjoy for years to come.”
Ritchie said the celebration would include live music with the King Salmon Band, followed by special guest performances by the stellar, award-winning students of David Mollencamp, director of Los Alamitos High School’s Chorus where he directs more than 60 students.
“We have some amazing talent in our school district,” Ritchie said. “This is a great way to give them the spotlight for part of the day and share their gifts with our community.”
Band on the Sand will also include food trucks, raffle prize drawings and lead up to a pre-Independence Day fireworks display from just across the river.
Admission to Band on The Sand is free of charge. Guests, which includes the general public, can bring their blankets, beach chairs and set up on the sand just beyond River’s End Restaurant at the western end of First Street in Seal Beach, where some may also find parking space. The atmosphere will be similar to the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce’s free summer concerts at Eisenhower Park slated to kick off on Wednesday, July 9.
However, for Band in the Sand, there is also an opportunity to purchase comfortable VIP tables, in premiere position near the entertainment and other amenities. They are valued at seats for four ($100), six ($150), or 10 ($225). For information on purchasing a table, call 562-810-0078.
While the idea of having a pre-Independence Day celebration may appear novel on the surface, Ritchie said it actually has roots in Long Beach.
About 30-plus years ago a Long Beach Fireman named Ruben Perez was drafted into coordinating a similar event with his fellow firefighters Dave Jenkins, Dave Holden and Bill Anderson at Veteran’s Stadium.
That event grew from humble beginnings to eventually fill the 12,000 seats in Veterans Stadium—where the Los Alamitos Griffins Football Team still plays many of its games.
Over the years that Perez was involved with the event, until his eventual retirement from the Long Beach Fire Department, the event became a family affair for all of the firefighters.
For example, Perez’ wife and five children, three girls and two boys, joined in the efforts to make the magic happen. No task was too small or a role too large to fill.
The event became quite the spectacle, drawing many repeat fans that looked forward to it each year. The pre-show to the fireworks was a circus and the firefighters’ children would dress up in clown outfits and cavort with the other performers before the crowd. While the circus left the program, the tradition of clowns stayed for years to come.
For many people attending the Long Beach Fire Department’s Independence Day celebration was a highlight of their year and the happy memories persist.
It is that type of feeling Perez’s daughter, Rosie Ritchie, says she wants to bring to the new Band on the Sand event this July 3.
“I would just like to see people come down to the beach that day and have a fun time and share some time together,” Ritchie said. “This is a great community and a great country and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
