Dunwoody 4th of July Parade - 2024

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Dunwoody 4th of July Parade: Thursday, July 4

Red, White & YOU atla

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 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 at Starbucks.

Viewing Information

Parade spectators are encouraged to set up chairs along Mt. Vernon and circle around the Dunwoody Village Parkway into Dunwoody Village. 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 116th United States Army Band and Dunwoody Idol Winner Lauren Schroder will perform. There will be a bounce house, 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.

Photo by Paul Ward

PARADE & FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS

Twilight Twirlers and Dunwoody Precision

Lawn Chair Drill Team

Find out more about these entertaining community groups on Page 17.

DINOWOODY

The Torres Family, who have become local celebrities thanks to the front yard dinosaur inflatables, have something really special planned for the 2024 Parade.

Discover Dunwoody

The team will be driving the amazing ReDiscover Dunwoody Trolley and handing out pool balls and stickers.

Atlanta Falcons

Freddie Falcon and some Atlanta Falcon Cheerleaders are back for the Parade and will have a special tent afterward at the Festival.

2024 Dunwoody Idol

Dunwoody Idol Winner Lauren Schroder is taking part in the Parade and performing at the Festival in the Village.

DeKalb CEO Michael

Thurmond

Michael Thurmond shows up to the Dunwoody Parade year after year. As his tenure as CEO is coming to an end, he’s back to celebrate one last time!

DCSD Superintendent

Devon Horton

Dr. Horton is back for his 2nd year with the Parade, and he will be riding next to District 1 Board of Education Board Member Anna Hill.

Georgia Spelling Bee Champion - Sarv Dharavane

As a 4th grader at Austin Elementary, Sarv won the 63rd Annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee in March. He then placed 22nd at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Weinermobile

Oscar Meyer’s iconic wiener-on-wheels is coming back to Dunwoody!

116th United States Army Band

The 116th has one of the busiest schedules of any unit in the Georgia National Guard, and is a fixture of ceremonies throughout Georgia.

Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps

Spirit has become one of the most revered drum and bugle corps, while remaining true to their Southern heritage and continually striving to push the boundaries of artistic innovation.

Dunwoody High School Band

The DHS Band was a crowd favorite in the rain at last year’s Parade. This year the Band Boosters are inviting current members and alumni to march!

Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps

Atlanta CV is an all-age performing drum corps competing in both Drum Corps Associates and Drum Corps International sanctioned events.

Courtesy Spirit of Atlanta

Photo by Paul Ward

Photo by Paul Ward

Lauren Schroder

2024 GRAND MARSHAL

David Abes

David Abes, the founder of DASH Hospitality who created an entertainment district in the heart of Dunwoody, will be this year’s parade grand marshal.

Abes is the driving force behind an effort to create a multi-use entertainment and restaurant complex in the heart of Dunwoody that now includes  Bar{n} booze {n} bites, Message in a Bottle, Morty’s Meat Supply and several food truck concepts.

“I am beyond honored to be the grand marshal this year,” Abes said on Instagram after the announcement. “It’s awesome seeing the entire Dunwoody community come together for the parade.”

Abes served as the general manager of the Atlanta Fish Market during the 1996

Olympic Games, and later as the director of operations for the ownership group Here to Serve Restaurants for 14 years, helping to grow the company from three to 14 restaurants.

He then held the role of COO for Buckhead Life Restaurant Group. In 2018, Abes decided to strike out on his own and started Dash, which includes Morty’s Meat & Supply and Message in a Bottle.

Abes is a member of the Dunwoody Village Merchants Association and a staunch supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (now called Breakthough T1D), and has hosted a fundraiser called Green Egg & Kegs for the last four years.

Cathy

Cobbs

DONATIONS

Atlanta Lions Club

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.

Community Assistance Center

The Community Assistance Center has been working to prevent hunger and homelessness in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs for over 35 years. Bring your donation of nonperishable canned foods and/or towels and linens in good condition for CAC’s three pantries.

David Abes (Courtesy DASH Hospitality)

Photo by Matt Wollner

DRILL & TWIRL Lawn Chair Drill Team and Twilight Twirlers performing in parade

By Cathy Cobbs

This year’s Dunwoody Fourth of July parade will see the return of two popular entries – the Precision Lawn Chair Drill Team and the Twilight Twirlers.

Patrick Fitzgerald, a Dunwoody North resident and founder of the lawn chair drill team, said the brigade, which is making its fourth parade appearance, will “razzle dazzle” the crowd with its distinctive chants and choreographed routines.

“Every year we try to tighten up the routines and learn some new ones to freshen it up a bit,” Fitzgerald said. “The first year, we backed up the parade quite a bit, but it’s hard to march past people who want to see the routine.”

COVID-19 fatigue, he said, was the impetus for forming the lawn chair drill team in 2021 after safety concerns forced the cancellation of the event in 2020.

“After they had to cancel, then announced that it was coming back, I kind of thought that I’d like to be in the parade and do something fun and outrageous,” he said in a 2022 YouTube interview. He rejected several possible options

while searching for something that people with little or no talent could do, including a briefcase drill team he saw participating in a Michigan parade.

“It was a little too stodgy and I didn’t want to wear a suit,” Fitzgerald said.

It was not until he watched a video of the East Beverly Lawn Chair team out of Massachusetts that he felt he found a concept that seemed to fit the bill.

“This was more my style. You didn’t have to dress up, and you didn’t need a lot of equipment,” he said. “Then I took it on as sort of a project.”

He recruited neighbors and friends, wrote several chants, and developed a training video that outlined the routines, at the same time realizing that perfection was not the ultimate goal.

“The nice thing about this situation is the more poorly executed and ridiculous you are, the better,” Fitzpatrick said. “There wasn’t a lot of stress about getting things right.”

This year, the drill team will consist of at least eight members, who will carry new aluminum chairs (courtesy of its first sponsor, Lawn Chair USA), chant,

and execute their signature move, the “handstand.”

Anyone interested in more information can visit the group’s Facebook page and ask for permission to join.

While it’s all about the lawn chairs for the drill team, it’s all about the boots for the Twilight Twirlers, according to Kathy Prough, who heads up the group.

“These are ladies who just want to twirl so they can wear the boots,” Prough joked. “The boots are really cute.”

The group, which has been in existence for 20 years, consists of teachers, lawyers, and retirees with diverse backgrounds. Nobody has to have baton experience to

join, just the desire to “get in a little bit of fitness and have some fun.”

Prough said the Dunwoody parade is the hands-down favorite because it’s so large and there are a lot of bands participating. She said the group also participates in the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade in Atlanta, the East Cobber Parade, Festival of Trees Parade in December, and the Tybee Island Festival.

This year, the team, wearing the aforementioned cute boots, will perform a patriotic medley that touches on all branches of the military. Prough said the group will be a mixture of Dunwoody parade veterans and newbies.

Precision Lawn Chair Drill Team (Courtesy Patrick Fitzgerald)

Twilight Twirlers (Courtesy Kathy Prough)