Boulder City celebrates July 4th with pancakes, parade — and a water fight
On Thursday morning, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford walked down a residential street in Boulder City and exchanged water gun fire with local children.
His T-shirt and shorts were soon soaked, but he wore a giant smile on his face as he walked from side to side of the street holding his orange water gun.
This water battle was not a random occurrence. It was part of Boulder City’s 76th annual Damboree celebration for Independence Day, an event that included a pancake breakfast, a flyover by a veterans flying group and a parade that lasted nearly two hours.
Politicians and candidates for office flocked to the Damboree, although Ford was one of the few, if not the only one, to brave the water fight portion of the parade.
“It’s all about community,” said Amy Vandermark, president of the local Rotary club, which organized the free breakfast.
By around 7:15 a.m., hardcore parade fans had started setting up chairs on Nevada Way, and a line of people snaked around the block waiting for the pancakes at Centennial Park. Political figures including Ford, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, and U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown helped prepare and serve the food.
The parade began at 9, with planes roaring overhead.
Grand marshal Lexi Lagan, a pistol shooter from Boulder City who has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, waved from a Jeep festooned with red, white and blue ribbons.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to come back to forever,” she said of the celebration.
Members of the Knights of Columbus marched with sashes, flags and swords.
Men drove vintage Farmall and John Deere tractors, filling Nevada Way with the smell of burning gas.
Shriners in fez caps circled around each other in miniature Corvettes in which they barely fit.
Many people brought small children, who eagerly grabbed the ice pops and candy that some participants handed out.
Seeing the little kids was her favorite part of the parade, Titus said. “I just enjoy waving at them and them waving back at me,” she said.
What the children seemed to enjoy most was the section of the parade designated for “water entries,” people who were willing to get squirted and squirt back at those shooting water at them. Kids laughed and squealed with excitement as they sprayed water on parade participants and each other.
Some people came prepared with tubs and buckets full of water from which they reloaded their guns.
“I like squirting people,” Luke Routa, 12, said, adding, “It’s fun to see people get wet.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
