"I love a parade...

"...the tramping of feet, I love every beat I hear of a drum."

Yes, there really is a song called "I Love a Parade," a true "golden oldie" written back in 1932. Residents of Des Plaines lined Center Street on 4th of July morning to display their patriotic pride and their love of parades. 4th of July brings out the best in our communities and Independence Day remains a day when we celebrate with old-fashioned simplicity. Picnics and barbeques, parades, church pancake breakfasts and ice cream socials, flag waving and, of course, fireworks - nothing too high tech, no rampant commercialism, just love of country and gratitude for hard-won freedom.

Did you see the library in the parade? In all honesty, we were hard to miss. We followed the gleaming trucks and roaring sirens of our city's police and fire departments and our Bookmobile (pictured above) was decked out in red, white and blue finery. What really made us stand out in the crowd was our awesome new book cart drill team, the Cart Wheels. If you watched yesterday's parade you must have seen them, with their festively decorated red book carts carrying birthday cakes in honor of the library's Centennial year. Circling in pinwheels, doing a little do si do with their book carts, waving and smiling in the humidity and heat, our Cart Wheels did us proud. We will be posting some video we took at the parade very soon - however, you can watch our video about the Cart Wheels and their rehearsals for the big day right here on our blog. Just click on the YouTube window to the right of your screen and enjoy. Then post your rave reviews below.

How did you celebrate the 4th of July this year? What made your day spectactular? It sure was nice that the forecasted storms came on Tuesday evening and allowed us to enjoy the parade and the holiday without umbrellas. While the parade was boisterous and happy, surely many of us also took a moment to remember our men and women serving in the Armed Forces. My friend PTC John Moran is serving in Baghdad and I hope he's home next year to celebrate Independence Day with his family and friends, who miss him terribly. If you have someone special in your life who serves in our American military, feel free to post a little tribute here in our Comments section. Today might be July 5th, but in America every day is "Independence Day," and we should always be mindful of and thankful for that freedom.

Tell us about your 4th of July 2007 - we hope it was a safe and happy one. Let us know what you think about the Cart Wheels, too. If you visit the library soon, you can even see their book carts on display.