Dunwoody 4th of July Parade - 2023

Presenting sponsors: Dunwoody Homeowners Association and Rough Draft

Dunwoody 4th of July

Parade: 50 Years of Wildcat Pride

Tuesday, July 4

Celebrating Dunwoody High School’s Past, Present & Future

The parade route is 2.7 miles, stepping off from the intersection of Mt. Vernon Rd. and Jett Ferry Rd. at 9 a.m. It ends at Dunwoody Village.

Parade route: dunwoodyga.org/parade-route

PARADE SCHEDULE & VIEWING

Parade Route

The parade route is approximately 2.7 miles and steps off from the intersection of Mount Vernon Road and Jett Ferry Road at 9:00 a.m., proceeds west on Mt. Vernon to Dunwoody Village, turns right onto Dunwoody Village Parkway, circles around the Parkway, and left into Dunwoody Village.

Viewing Information

Parade spectators are encouraged to set up chairs along Mt. Vernon and circle around the Dunwoody Village Parkway into Dunwoody Village. Spectators will be blocked from viewing on the east side of Jett Ferry on Mt. Vernon due to the staging and setup for parade participants. Viewing will start on the west side of Jett Ferry on Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon Road, between Jett Ferry Road and Dunwoody Village, will be closed from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Parade Festival

After the parade ends at Dunwoody Village, stick around for the festival! The Dunwoody High School Band and Dunwoody Idol Beatrix Boehner will perform, plus there will be a bounce house. King of Pops, Kona Ice, and an opportunity to meet local businesses and politicians. Scout Troop 266 will be selling Slope’s barbecue as a fundraiser (pre-order at troop266.us) and the Rotary Club will be selling hot dogs to raise money for the organization. There will be large tents with tables, chairs, and fans.

PARADE & FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS

Dino Family

The Torres Family, who have become local celebrities thanks to the dinosaur inflatables that dot their front yard on Dunwoody Club Drive, will be participating in the parade with a “Jurassic Park”-themed jeep and inflatable dinosaurs. Find out more about the family on Page S5.

Characters

Watch for costumed characters including Captain America, Spiderman, and your favorite princesses.

Dunwoody High School Band

▲The DHS Band will march in the parade, under the direction of Walter Hickman, Peachtree Middle School Band Director.

Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corp.

A proud member of Drum Corps International, this dynamic ensemble exudes Southern charm and showmanship that embodies the spirit of Atlanta.

Discover Dunwoody

Discover Dunwoody will enter a trolley car and be handing out Dunwoody stickers and branded pool balls.

Spruill Center

Spruill Center will be carrying two large canvases and passing out red, white, and star stickers to create a participatory piece of art that will end up looking like the American Flag. They will have two teams of volunteers – advance walkers that will hand out the stickers and canvas carriers that will walk with the pieces and allow the participants to place their stickers in the assigned area. The walkers will be on the sides of the route, so watch out for them.

Charlie’s Army

Charlie’s Army fights to protect infants and young children who do not yet have voices of their own, ensuring that parents’ and children’s best interests are being met by providing the best chance at a healthy, loving environment.

Santa in a ’52 Chevy

Christmas in July will be in full effect as Santa closes out the parade.

Xfinity

Xfinity, a Platinum Sponsor this year, will be in the parade with a Bucket Truck, Xfinity Ford Flex, and Walkers !

Atlanta Falcons

Freddie Falcon and the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders will accompany the Atlanta Falcons Sprinter Van down the parade route to the festival at Dunwoody Village.

Frankmobile

Oscar Mayer’s famous Frankmobile, formerly known as the Weinermobile, will be part of the parade again.

Dunwoody Idol Winner Beatrix Boehner

▲Boehner will perform songs along the route from a vehicle in the parade lineup.

“Enjoy Living”

ben franklin academy

2023 GRAND MARSHALS

DHS Principal Tom Bass & teacher Steve Fortenberry

This year’s Fourth of July Parade honors Dunwoody High School’s 50th anniversary, so it only seems natural to have Principal Tom Bass and longtime school of finance teacher Steve Fortenberry as this year’s grand marshals. Both Bass and Fortenberry were instrumental players in planning the school’s 50th-anniversary celebration held in April. Dunwoody High opened on Vermack Road in 1972 with 900 students and has grown to serve nearly 2,000 students today.

Donations Lions Club

Community Assistance Center

Congratulations to the Class of 2021! Congratulations to the Class of 2023

For more information about our school, please visit www.benfranklinacademy.org.

For more information about our school, please visit www.benfranklinacademy.org

Bring your used eyeglasses to the parade for recycling at the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. The Lions International Youth Ambassadors and their host families will march with the Atlanta Lions Club and the Lighthouse Mobile Eye Clinic van. Look for the colorful flags of the world as the students will be parading with their national flags and carrying eyeglass collection boxes.

The Community Assistance Center has been working to prevent hunger and homelessness in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs for over 35 years. This year, demand for CAC’s food program has increased by 57%. Bring your donation of unopened, shelf-stable food to the parade, where local Boy Scout Troop 764 will be helping collect food donations for CAC’s three pantries. Canned meats, pasta, rice, dried beans, and canned fruit are always in demand, and an updated list of mostneeded items can be found at ourcac.org/ give-food.

Dunwoody Dino House offers inspiration, entertainment

By Cathy Cobbs

A young boy’s love for dinosaurs has become an inspiration and a beacon of hope for Dunwoody residents.

The Torres family – Cesar, Lisa and their children Coby, 6, and Rex, 3 – have become known for their holiday-inspired dinosaur inflatables in front of their Dunwoody Club Drive home, a project that evolved during the pandemic.

“In 2020, during these troubled times, we took my son’s curiosity and fascination with dinosaurs and turned it into a family project,” Lisa said. “At the time, I was going through some post-partum issues [after the birth of Rex] and the confidence and safety that Coby felt when he talked about dinosaurs was something I couldn’t give him.”

Seeing the smiles that the world of dinosaurs brought to her children inspired Lisa and Cesar to try to extend that feeling to people in the neighborhood, many of whom were going through the same isolation that the Torres family was experiencing.

The first dinosaur installation was put up around Halloween of 2020, with a lot of positive feedback, Lisa said, so the family ordered some Christmas-themed dinosaurs,

then then moved on to Valentine’s Day, Easter, and on and on.

Lisa said she then started adding encouraging messages to the display with large cutout letters. For Valentine’s Day, she added “Smile” to the mix, and people started commenting that they looked forward to the new displays at the newly minted “Dunwoody Dino House.”

“Whatever I was feeling at the time was what the signs said,” she said. “During April, which was Mental Health Awareness Month, we had a sign that said, ‘Your life matters,’ and we got a lot of great feedback from people.” Lisa said her husband, who was working at home at the time, would see school buses stop in front of the house to check out the latest installation.

“It was so great to see the kids go nuts on the bus,” she said. “And my husband would take pictures of parents and grandparents walking their kids by the house and stopping to see what we had up.”

Lisa called the experience “spiritually fulfilling” for the entire family, and said the love for dinosaurs has extended to the entire family.

“I was afraid that as Coby got older that his love for dinosaurs would fade, but

The Torres family just completed decorating the yard for the Fourth of July.

that hasn’t been the case, and now it’s all of our identities,” she said. “Part of it is the realization that what we are doing has the power to make someone’s day better.”

That point was illustrated last November when the Torres family was out of town and the dinosaur exhibit was temporarily taken down. An anonymous note appeared in their mailbox inquiring about whether everyone was okay and putting in a request to have a birthday dinosaur appear on May 23, the writer’s birthday.

“We had no idea who that person was, but we remembered and on May 23, we had a Happy Birthday dinosaur for the person’s birthday,” Lisa said. “We didn’t even know if he or she would see it, but we had to keep the promise.”

The author, who turned out to be a woman named Rebecca, wrote another note

after seeing the birthday installation.

“I drove past your house and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the birthday dinos in the yard,” she said. “If these were meant for me, you made my birthday so special. Thank you for spreading so much joy and happiness with your dinos.”

Rebecca’s note is not the only positive affirmation the family has received. The pictures they have posted on the Nextdoor website and the Dunwoody Area Community Forum’s Facebook page have garnered hundreds of likes and admiring messages.

“My son and I frequently drive past and always look to see what fun new displays you’ve put up,” one neighbor wrote. “My son is 22 and is on the autism spectrum, and dinosaurs are a huge interest of his and he tries to fully celebrate every holiday, so your displays are a great attention grabber for him! It’s fun to have neighbors who love

Laura K. Schilling, J.D., CPA, CFP®

celebrating and do it in such a way that is so… well… neighborly!”

The Torres family has been so inspired by the encouraging messages they have received that they have decided to take it to

a new level by participating in Dunwoody’s Fourth of July parade with as many dinosaurs as they can include.

“We feel incredibly blessed to be alive –together and in this space,” Lisa said.

Lisa, Coby, Rex and Cesar Torres stand in front of one of their favorite dinosaurs in front of their Dunwoody Club Drive home.

DUNWO ODY

Tuesday,

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