By Clyde Noel
People entering Los Altos’ Shoup Park on the Fourth of July received a miniature U.S. flag and a “Glorious Fourth” program from two Girl Scouts from Troop 265.
The annual Independence Day picnic featured the traditional hot dogs, patriotic songs, music by Ye Olde Towne Band and some old-fashioned picnic games.
Master of ceremonies Boo Bue was walking around Shoup Park wondering where the people were, since there were so few when the band started playing “76 Trombones.”
Boo was also concerned because he didn’t see any war veterans. “Relax, Boo, this is a family celebration,” he was told.
Instead of a marching Marine Corps contingent and uniform wearing veterans, Girl Scouts were the important participants if the Fourth of July event.
“In the past we have focused on the veterans and that doesn’t reach our young kids,” co-chairwoman Kim Fielding said. “We welcome the veterans to come. But look around — the band is good, the food vendor is sending out delicious smells and we have lots of ice cream treats.”
The American Legion contingent was absent as were other veterans groups from the Peninsula.
“We built up Independence Day activities in Los Altos, and it’s up to others to follow with their ideas now,” said Bill Henderson, a World War II survivor of the USS Indianapolis, which sunk in the the Pacific Ocean July 30, 1945.
By the time bugler Katie Coleman played “Assembly,” the crowd had begun to to fill the available seats or seek out a patch of shade.
“There are families here with kids,” co-chairwoman Dina Scheel said. “That was our objective: games, food and fun.”
Former U.S. representative and California Sen. Tom Campbell provided historical facts about Independence Day with his discourse on reasoning for the Declaration of Independence. Breaking his dialogue into “Allegiance” and “Independence,” Campbell said the Pledge of Allegiance was addressed to the Constitution and not the people.
“It’s (the Declaration of Independence) a document that distrusts the government and makes the people independent,” he said. “It’s a virtue we apprise to be American.”
Campbell said the United States is the only country in the world that does not wish to subjugate other countries. It enters other countries only to do right for the good of humanity. Campbell then asked, “Is our policy wise and were our intentions good?”
One Los Altos veteran, who asked that his name not be mentioned, said, “I’ve known a lot of World War II veterans over the years. They are a breed apart. They are men and women who understood the importance of freedom and democracy,” he said. They cherished their freedom and were willing to fight to preserve it. There is a change in the power structure, and too often we take that ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ stuff for granted because we’re so distracted by the pursuit of pleasure.”
The program ended with John Sylvester and Vicki Reeder singing with Ye Olde Towne Band, “America the Beautiful,” “This Land Is Your Land,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Grand Ole Flag” and “God Bless America.”
