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<< Previous   of   Next >> Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Nailah Harris, with the Adefu African Music and Dance Company from Seattle, performs at the Fourth of July parade Friday in Everett. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Members of the Fuzion Ignite All-Star Cheer Team perform during the Everett parade. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) From left, Ashton Rounds, Noah Phelps and Megan Rounds, all of Everett, show off their patriotic garb at the Everett Fourth of July parade on Friday. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Kay Duskin of Arlington laughs during the Fourth of July pancake breakfast at Haller Park in Arlington on Friday. The breakfast was put on by the Arlington Heights Fire Department. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Steve Peterson, who has lived in Arlington for 60 years, wears a stars-and-stripes shirt at the Fourth of July pancake breakfast at Haller Park in Arlington.The breakfast was put on by the Arlington Heights Fire Department. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Joey Jackson, 8, of Everett peers from under the brim of his hat at the Fourth of July parade in Everett on Friday. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Lucille Chester, who has lived in Everett for 78 years, smiles at Everett's Fourth of July parade.   ADVERTISEMENT   What does the Fourth of July mean to you? "It means that we're free and we get to live in the greatest country in the world. If it wasn't for the Fourth of July, I wouldn't have the job I have, the freedom to be a Christian and choose the church that I go to." -- Bruce Lapham, Marysville "Freedom and the grace of the land that we have in the United States." --Linda Gonzales, Everett "It's freedom, man. It's liberation, it's independence, and it's the hope that we can lift ourselves up." -- Ralston Fraser, Mount Vernon "It means getting together with your family and celebrating that our country is free from England." -- Peter Semler, Mill Creek   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, July 5, 2008 Everett celebrates in style By David Chircop Herald Writer EVERETT -- Fireworks, backyard barbecues, parades, ball games and African drumming. Those are just a few ways that people in Snohomish County on Friday celebrated independence and the birth of the country. Under overcast skies and in short-sleeve temperatures, hundreds of people lined up on Colby Avenue in downtown Everett in the morning to watch what some say was the longest and best-attended parade in recent memory. The lineup for the city's Colors of Freedom parade had a deliberately diverse lineup, including Chinese dragons, Scottish bagpipes, Aztec warriors, Norwegian polka and elaborately dressed Filipino dancers. The Adefua African Music and Dance Company of Seattle got feet tapping with its tribal grooves that fused traditions of Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana and Zaire and Caribbean nations. As advertised, the weather did not interfere with anyone's Fourth of July festivities. As of press time, no major fireworks-related injuries or fires were reported in the county. Marysville Fire Department, which also serves Lake Goodwin and the Tulalip Indian Reservation, responded to a few tree fires. People who gathered for a music festival at Legion Memorial Park on Everett's northwestern tip were treated to a spectacular orange sun that dipped behind dozens of sailboats set anchor in Port Gardner Bay. Kelvis Mulima of Everett relaxed on a folding chair while the famous reggae performer Clinton Fearon sang upbeat songs of freedom at Legion park. Mulima is from Uganda, a landlocked East African nation east of Kenya, where the average life expectancy for men is just 51 years. In the 1970s Idi Amin's dictatorial regime was responsible for the deaths of about 300,000 opponents. "In the country that I'm from, we have freedom, but not the kind we enjoy over here," he said. Sue Strickland, an Everett resident who also attended the music festival, said the Fourth of July is a good time to reflect on our liberties. "It's just to celebrate our freedom as a nation and to remind us not to take things for granted," she said. "We have so much to be grateful for." Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.

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