They'll Be Dancing In the Street In Brookside, NJ On the 4th Of July: Brookside Community Club 86th Annual Parade

According to a long standing annual tradition, Rex and the girls and I are spending the week from his birthday through the 4th of July at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, but for those of you who are sticking around the Roxiticus Valley (Mendham, Chester, Bernardsville, Peapack-Gladstone, and Morris County), I thought I'd provide some entertainment in the form of local parades and fireworks.

I'd like to start with one of the biggest and closest 4th of July celebrations, put on by the Brookside Community Club in Brookside, NJ (part of Mendham Township, near the Mendham Township Elementary School). This year (2009) marks the 86th anniversary since the Community Club held Brookside's first Fourth of July Parade in 1923. The theme for the parade is "Dancing In the Street" with lots of singing, dancing, and music for all to enjoy, including Motown legends Martha Reeves and the Vandellas making their first U.S. appearance on their summer tour.

The Brookside Community Parade and Grand March begins at 9:00am on Saturday, July 4, 2009, and after the parade, Martha Reeves and the Vendellas will set up shop in the firehouse and continue to belt out such Top 10 Motown classics as "Heat Wave," "Jimmy Mack," "Quick Sand" and "Nowhere to Run." The performance is free. As usual, children of all ages will enjoy field games, clowns, moon walk, dunking booth, fire truck rides, food, drink, and an afternoon swim at the Brookside Beach.

The famous Pooch Parade returns this year with dogs of all kinds, shapes and sizes. To enter your dog, please call Diane Tolley at 973-543-7302 or e-mail heratdto07926@aim.com

For all the details, visit the Brookside Community Club web site or call 973-543-7250.

I hope all the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives who are in town for the 4th of July will check out the parade and events and let us know all about it.