The Melrose Messenger

Melrose Celebrates July 4th

By Ellen Putnam

While many Melrosians may have headed out of town for the Fourth of July or visited our northern neighbor, Wakefield, for its larger Fourth of July parade and fireworks, those who stayed in Melrose were treated to two longstanding traditions for all ages: the Bike and Carriage Parade around Melrose Common in the morning, and an outdoor concert at Mount Hood in the evening. Hundreds gathered for both events, enjoying the beautiful, mild weather and spending time with friends and neighbors as they also celebrated the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

At the Bike and Carriage Parade, families decorated strollers, wagons, bikes, and scooters with flags, streamers, ribbons, and other materials. They paraded around the Melrose Common and then enjoyed ice pops from Seven Mile Road Church, bubbles and a giant parachute from the Melrose Department of Recreation, temporary tattoos from State Representative Kate Lipper Garabedian, and playing with one another on the fields and playground.

The outdoor concert, now in its 38th year, welcomed audience members of all ages. The Middlesex Concert Band, which has performed in Melrose on July 4th for many years now, played from the porch of the Mount Hood clubhouse to an audience spread out across the lawn, creating a small Tanglewood experience, right here in Melrose.

The concert, which was hosted by the Mount Hood Park Association with support from the Melrose Cultural Council, was dedicated to the memory of Joan Bell, the longtime Melrose Parks Superintendent who passed away suddenly earlier this year, only a few months after she retired.

The band played a mix of patriotic and popular tunes. They began with the Star-Spangled Banner and a medley of songs for each branch of the armed forces. Veterans stood when their branch’s song played, and the audience clapped in appreciation for their service. Then the band played a lively rendition of George Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band.

The program continued with Charles Ives’ Old Home Days cycle, which ended with a movement based on London Bridge where one section of the band is out of time with the rest. Music Director Mark Olson noted that Ives was inspired by the community band his father conducted, where the trumpets would always rush ahead of the rest of the band. “It’s actually really hard to play out of time with each other, when you’re used to playing in time!” Olson quipped.

Then the band played a lush arrangement of Amazing Grace by Frank Ticheli; a medley of songs by early 20th century popular composer George Cohan, including Yankee Doodle, Grand Old Flag, and Give My Regards to Broadway; and a medley of other early 20th century tunes, before moving forward in time to a tribute to mid-20th century jazz great Count Basie, and finally, selections from the Broadway musical Wicked.

The program finished with America the Beautiful, and then the children were given flags and paraded around the lawn during Stars and Stripes Forever.

While Melrose may not have some of the larger and flashier July 4th traditions that other towns do, our parade and outdoor concert gave Melrosians of all ages the chance to spend time together and celebrate the ideals of liberty and equality for all that our country’s founders first laid out in the Declaration of Independence - ideals that Americans have worked and sacrificed for in the 249 years since then.

Posted July 5th, 2025