From The Tribune staff reports
LEEDS — Approximately 120 parents and children met at Leeds Memorial Park on Friday, July 1, to participate in the first-ever Holiday Bicycle Parade.
This event brought the community together with plenty of patriotic red, white, and blue to celebrate the Independence Day holiday weekend kick-off. Children and parents with decorated bikes, tricycles, skateboards, scooters, wagons, strollers or their comfy shoes made a parade lap around the walking track as patriotic marching music played. At the same time, local firefighters, volunteers, and onlookers cheered everyone on as children zoomed by.
Police Chief Irwin walked in the parade and handed out gold sticker badges to the kids. Clifford, the little brown dog, and Nico, the black doggie, joined the parade and trotted happily around the track with their owners. Fire Chief Parsons and firefighters brought a fire truck for the kids to check out and were on standby for any first aid needs throughout the event. Kids enjoyed having their photos made on the fire engine.
The parade festivities concluded with 10 prize giveaways and an invitation to join everyone downtown for the second 1st Friday Family Movie Night. This crowd met others to gather in the concrete parking lot on the corner of Parkway Drive and 8th Street to watch Sing 2 while enjoying the outdoors with their families, along with plenty of food, popcorn and shaved ice.
These free events were sponsored by the Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce, Leeds Redevelopment Authority, and Leeds Jane Culbreth Library. This was the second of three major summer events scheduled for the Leeds community to enjoy.
The last First Friday Family Movie Night is scheduled for Friday, August 5. This event will be considered a Back to School Bash with food trucks and yard games, as well as the last outdoor movie of the summer, along with some other festivities. More details will be announced soon, so be sure to stay connected with Everyone Leeds and Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce.
Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce is in the process of planning other major community events, including the Cruising for Toys Charity Car Cruise-In, Downtown Trick or Treat, Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting, annual Christmas Parade, and a brand-new event is being added to the line-up which is a downtown Kiddie Parade scheduled for April 2023.
Leeds hosts a free community calendar on their website and a weekly blog to get information out to the public on upcoming events. Anyone can subscribe to the free e-publication. Check out the community calendar and mark your calendar so you will not miss a single event.
For more information about these upcoming events, please contact Sandra McGuire at 205-965-9392 and visit these websites – www.EveryoneLeeds.com and www.LeedsAreaChamber.com.