4th Facts
CELEBRATION COMMERATIVES
Commerative caps and tee-shirts noting the area’s 106th annual Independence Day Celebration are being sold as a fund-raising endeavor by the event sponsor, the not-for-profit Greater Glenside Patriotic Association (GGPA).
Designed by GGPA volunteer member Jennifer Klug, of Elkins Park, PA, caps and shirts are $12 each, and $20 for a hat-shirt combination.
The souvenir items are being sold prior to July 4 outside some Keswick Village business locations, and will also be available on the holiday morning at the We Love America Children’s Program. This free-admission gala, from 10 o’clock to 12:30 p.m., will continue being at Renninger Memorial Park, Keswick Ave. and Waverly Rd., in lower Glenside.
Information about caps and shirts’ availabilities may be obtained from Ms. Klug (215-510-9638).
PROMOTING PATRIOTISM
“To exclusively advance and perpetuate the spirit of Independence Day (July 4)…to honor the birth of the U.S.A.; to organize and supervise an annual parade and other activities on July 4 (or a rain date) in celebration of Independence Day; to encourage the citizens of the community to participate and join in with the association in the spirit of patriotism.”
As expressed in its by-laws, the above states the mission of the all-volunteer membership of the Great Glenside Patriotic Association (GGPA, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501 © (3) group whose major, year-round effort is sponsorship and staging of the locale’s massive annual Independence Day Celebration each July 4.
Significantly, the starting point for Glenside’s 106th Annual Grand, Glorious, Patriotic Parade on July 4, at Edge Hill and Jenkintown Roads, occurs in an historic Revolutionary War area of the community.
The Battle of Edge Hill, on Dec. 7, 1777, was fought between American and British forces on what is now Glenside’s northern tier. The nearest approach to a battle ever fought in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, the clash resulted in American losses of 84 killed and wounded, with British casualties being 28 killed, 64 wounded and 33 missing.
FLAGS FLUTTER
A Glenside sea of red, white and blue American flags and bunting will greet localies and those visiting or passing through that eastern Montgomery County, PA, community starting shortly after the Independence Day sunrise of Saturday, July 4.
Following a years’ long July 4 tradition, Glenside’s main north-south artery, Easton Rd., will be aligned on both sides with American flags, stretching from Waverly Rd. in lower Glenside north to Cross Rd. Flags and their poles are owned by the Greater Glenside Patriotic Association (GGPA) and will be hoisted, and later removed, by personnel of the area’s two volunteer fire companies -- Cheltenham Township’s Glenside Co. and Abington Township’s Weldon Co.
Over years the Easton Rd. red, white and blue display has expanded into many other Glenside streets and areas, where residences and utility poles sport an abundance of U.S. flags and patriotic decorations.
FOLLOWING FIREWORKS
To help clear post-fireworks vehicular traffic on July 4, parking and traffic patterns will be altered in the northern area of Abington Township’s Glenside Gardens’ community.
On-street parking will be banned along both north and south sides of Charles St., between Ghost and Easton Rds., from the afternoon of July 4 until traffic clears later that night, probably after 10 o’clock. Abington Police also report that for a temporary time after the fireworks Charles St. traffic will be one-way westbound.