LaGrange Hosts 38th Annual Fourth of July Parade

LaGrange held its 38th annual Fourth of July Parade on Monday with children once again parading through downtown to celebrate our independence.

This year’s theme was “Peace, Love & Freedom.” The parade was led by Grand Marshal Greg Watts, who serves as President of the LaGrange Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) is a non-profit organization that builds and delivers beds to children who do not have a bed.  The organization is a group volunteers with the motto: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!” They are dedicated to building, assembling and beds to children and families in need.

The group started building beds in a garage and has as grown steadily over time, opening 242 chapters across the United States. Since they began in 2012, the organization has built over 60,000 beds for children in need.

SHP is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and 100 percent of all donations and funds go toward providing beds for children.

Watts’ efforts made him particularly suited to lead LaGrange’s Fourth of July parade, which uniquely focuses on children in the community. Children design and craft floats based on the theme to be judged for prizes from the Junior Service League. The kid’s “floats” come in many varieties, from hand pulled wagons, to simply bikes, skates, or scooters.

Each year children parade their “floats” from Sweetland along Church Street to Lafayette Square and back once again to the amphitheater.

A grand prize of $300 is awarded to the overall winner as well as $200 for first place, $150 for second place, and $100 for third place.

The Royal School of Dance was awarded this year’s grand prize and $300.

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Tommy Murphy
Staff Writer