Locals and visitors clad in red, white and blue took to Main Avenue and nearby events Monday to celebrate a hot and humid July 4.
A steady stream of people in American flag T-shirts and hats, and one golden retriever in an American flag bandanna, wandered along Main Avenue occasionally dipping into one of the many stores or restaurants open during the holiday.
In the morning, the Rotary Club of Durango held its All American Breakfast at Rotary Park with attendees treated to eggs, pancakes, sausage and biscuits and gravy.
Southwest Civic Winds, a community ensemble that plays throughout the Four Corners, performed patriotic and American-themed songs at Buckley Park before giving way to the bands Badly Bent and the Kirk James Blues Band for an afternoon picnic at the park.
Hundreds attended the picnic at Buckley Park, which was complete with a bouncy castle and booths with food, drinks, henna tattoos and other activities.
The crowd stuck to the shade around the edges of the park to escape the sun and temperatures in the mid-80s.
“We love the music and we like the food, and I love the parade,” said David (Red) McFerren, of Farmington.
Every year for nine years McFerren and his wife have driven from Farmington to relax, listen to music and take in the festivities before returning to Farmington for fireworks, a tradition that has been on hold the last two years with Durango’s suspension of July 4 activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
McFerren welcomed the return of the celebrations and the chance to listen to good music for hours.
“We like to come out and just sit in the shade and people watch,” he said.
After attending the Rotary Club of Durango’s breakfast, David Gonzales and Melanie McKinney-Gonzales, who have lived in Durango for more than two decades, decided to venture to the picnic at Buckley Park to sit and listen to the live music.
Though Bayfield is known for its parade and Silverton its fireworks show, Gonzales said he admired the blues music and appreciated the relaxed atmosphere around Durango for the holiday.
“It doesn’t feel really crowded,” he said.
Gonzales, who described himself as “traditional,” said Durango’s lack of live fireworks for July 4 was disappointing, but that Silverton’s show was well worth the drive.
Monday’s crowd at Buckley Park was steady, said Jon Sigillito with Building Homes for Heroes, a nonprofit that builds and modifies homes for injured veterans, who was running the food and drink tents at the picnic.
“It seems like it’s been a pretty good crowd,” he said, with people out to enjoy the sunny day, eat food and listen to the free music.
All of the money the group raised from concessions during the event would go to helping veterans through Building Homes for Heroes, he said.
Like the Buckley Park picnic, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad reported steady crowds throughout the holiday weekend.
D&SNG saw ridership grow in the week leading up to the holiday, said Jeff Johnson, the railroad’s general manager.
“We’ve been averaging over the last few days in the neighborhood of 1,100 passengers each day,” he said. “We actually did add some additional seats to the train here just for this week, and we’re finding some steady walk-up traffic, too.”
Early Monday evening hundreds lined Main Avenue with lawn chairs from College Drive to Buckley Park to watch the annual Stars and Stripes Parade, complete with bagpipes, Corvettes and fire engines from the Durango Fire Protection District.
And of course, there was a lot of red, white and blue.
ahannon@durangoherald.com
