The Grand Marshal for this year’s parade is Second District SupervisorZach Friend. He will ride in a car hosted by TriumphTravelers Sports Car Club.
This year’s parade theme is Cultivating Community and Zach Friend could be called Cultivator of the Decade. For the last twelve years, Zach has brought a wealth of knowledge and political connections to county government on our behalf.
Zach has attended hundreds of town hall meetings, he holds open office hours, and he developed Zoom and audio meetings during the pandemic.
His commitment to parks includes the redevelopment of Willowbrook County Park in honor of fallen Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, the remodel of Seascape Park, and Hidden Beach Park, and the development of Seacliff Park including bicycle and skateboarding opportunities in Seacliff and Pinto Lake Park, a new baseball field at Polo Grounds, and this year there will be new soccer fields at Polo Grounds and Pinto Lake.
Zach fostered the redevelopment of the La Selva, Capitola, and Aptos libraries which included the integration of the Aptos History Museum into the Aptos Library. He oversaw the redevelopment of Aptos Village, including the new Mid-County Public Safety Service Center, and he initiated the construction of the new South County Government Center. He helped secure significant transportation funding including Highway 1 widening and improvements to Soquel Drive.
Additionally, Zach initiated the creation of a County Strategic Plan and transparent budget process, assisted with the Aptos/La Selva – Central Fire merger, worked for the expansion of broadband, worked against the removal of telephone land lines, and led on a new AI regulatory policy. He worked to save Watsonville Hospital from closure, secured funding for the Pajaro River Project, and was responsible for bringing President Biden to our county to view the damage from our winter storms bringing a disaster declaration to open funding through FEMA.
That is a Community Cultivator if there ever was one.
Letter from the Aptos Chamber President
Dave Lompa
The 4th of July in Aptos, what a great day! We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful community. We have the beaches of the beautiful Monterey Bay and the towering redwood forest. Visitors and residents alike get to enjoy the celebration.
I have been fortunate to be a part of Aptos for 18 years. Our parade theme this year is Cultivating Community. We celebrate all the people who work, live, and volunteer to make our community special.
Our Grand Marshal is Supervisor Zach Friend who has given a dozen years to our community as a leader to not only respond to the daily affairs of county government but also to make policies for our future and to help bring resources to respond to our propensities for natural disasters. Thank you, Zach.
Our little parade, celebrating its 63rd year, reminds me of Norman Rockwell’s reflection on the homespun history of our country. This is a parade that everyone can participate in. We want you to show off your special vehicle whether it is an antique or there is something else that makes it special. Bring your unique pets, costumes, music groups, cheer or dance teams, sports teams, schools, floats, and organizations. That is what gives our parade that down home feeling.
Soquel Drive is very narrow and that has been a problem for motorcycles and horses, so our insurance no longer allows them. Throwing items like candy to the crowd has caused injuries too so please help us keep the parade going for the future.
Following the parade is the Party in the Park with food and beverages, games, craft vendors, and music from The Lost Boys featuring James Durbin. You can dine and dance your cares away. We have much to celebrate.
Enjoy Your State Parks
Año Nuevo State Park
Bean Hollow State Beach
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park
Butano State Park
Castle Rock State Park
Castro Adobe State Historic Park
Coast Dairies State Park
Fall Creek Unit
Gazos Creek State Beach
Half Moon Bay State Beach
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Lighthouse Field State Beach
Manresa State Beach
Manresa Uplands State Beach
Montara State Beach
Natural Bridges State Beach
New Brighton State Beach
Palm State Beach
Pebble State Beach
Pescadero State Beach
Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park
Pomponio State Beach
Portola Redwoods State Park
Rancho del Oso Unit
Rio Del Mar State Beach
San Gregorio State Beach
Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
Seabright State Beach
Seacliff State Beach
Sunset State Beach
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Twin Lakes State Beach
Wilder Ranch State Park
CATHEDRALDR. SOQUELDR.
TROUT GULCH
VALENCIAST. CALVARYCHAPELOFAPTOS RD.PARKSTATE
LOST CHILDREN LOST & FOUND (Band Stage) Party In the Park
JUENEMANN PAINTING
Parade Participation Information:
Per parade insurance, please comply with the following rules for the safety of all!
★ DO NOT THROW ANYTHING ALONG PARADE ROUTE
This includes candy, fliers, balloons, etc., and is for the safety of all children who run out into the street. The child you save from injury may be your own.
★ DO NOT RETURN ALONG PARADE ROUTE UNTIL PARADE IS OVER
There are designated areas for floats and cars at the end of the parade route. Once your vehicles are parked, you are welcome to watch the parade or go down into Aptos Village Park for the afternoon activities. Please disperse from the end of the parade route promptly to help keep congestion to a minimum.
★ PARTICIPANTS MAY LINE UP STARTING AT 7:30AM – STREET CLOSES AT 9:30AM – PARADE BEGINS AT 10AM
★ NO FIREWORKS OF ANY KIND
★ NO MOTORCYCLES OF ANY KIND
★ NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN PARADE OR IN THE FORMATION AREA
★ DO NOT SPRAY OR THROW WATER ALONG THE PARADE ROUTE
★ NO CARS ALLOWED ON SOQUEL DRIVE UNTIL THE HIGHWAY PATROL RE-OPENS THE ROAD TO TRAFFIC
Aptos 4th of July Parade Has come a long way!
By John Hibble
The 4th of July is America’s birthday, and many communities have parades to celebrate that fact. The freedom to determine our own future was at the center of the founding of our country. The “World’s Shortest Parade” in Aptos is also about self-determination but it was not originally about America’s birthday.
The Granite Rock Company, founded in 1900, has been an important part of the history of Santa Cruz County. The great construction boom in houses and highways in the late 1950s and ‘60s meant that Granite had to
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build new cement batching plants to supply the need for concrete throughout the region. Cement, sand, and aggregate are stored at the batching plant and mixed to order, then sent out in giant “cement mixer” trucks to the construction sites.
In 1959, the last remnants of the apple industry in Aptos Village closed down. Aptos was an industrial town with no industry. The Granite Rock Company purchased land in the Village and applied to the county for a zoning change to build a cement batching plant. That is why the street across from the Post Office is named Granite Way.
There is nothing wrong with a concrete plant but no one in Aptos Village wanted it in their back yard. Locals rose up against the proposal. Concerned women formed the “Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society” and organized themselves to defeat the zoning change. The group included Lucile Aldrich, Anne Isaacs, Babe Toney, Peggy Marceron, Jessie Elliott, Birdie Jacobs, Beverly Palmer, Nola Gales, Pat Thompson, Joyce West, Peggy Hunter, Mrs. Harrison Smith, Dee Small, Betty Jo Jensen, and Nita Jellison.
Their efforts were successful and to celebrate their victory, a barbecue was held on Memorial Day, 1961, in the field next to the railroad track. The event was so popular that a parade and potluck were planned to follow on the fourth of July.
Everyone turned out in old fashioned clothes and the Monterey Bay Antique Car Club brought 18 vintage cars. The parade route was from the Driftwood Gas Station at Trout Gulch Road (where O’Neill’s Surf Shop is now located) to the Pop Inn restaurant, (now the Parish Publick House). The parade only lasted ten minutes and that is how the “World’s Shortest Parade” got its name.
The second year, the “Sun Tan Special”, the train that once transported visitors from the San Francisco Peninsula to Santa Cruz, was in its final year of service. The Aptos Ladies had planted red, white, and blue petunias along the railroad track from the Bay View
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Hotel to the Pop Inn. When the train reached Aptos on July 4th, the engineer stopped the train so that the passengers could get off and enjoy the festivities. “It was a happy coincidence that the parade coincided with the train passing through”, recalled Lucile Aldrich.
Games were also held in the field including sack races, a watermelon eating contest, horseshoes, kick the can, peanut runs, shoe kicking, and foot races.
The third year, the American Legion post was the first to set up a food booth with chili, coffee, and pies. The following year, the Pop Inn offered hot dogs and soft drinks. Santa Cruz Dairy Farms wanted to sell ice cream, so Lucile asked them to bring a cow for a milking contest. They brought two cows for five or six years but eventually the herd was moved away which ended the contest. In the mid-1970s the games and food booths were moved to Aptos Village Park which had just been completed.
In 1992, after thirty years of successful parade organization, the Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society retired from the job and turned the parade over to the Aptos Chamber of Commerce. The once tiny parade has grown into a huge event for Aptos. The “World’s Shortest Parade” has gained national recognition as one of only seven Fourth of July parades recommended in 2013 as the “Best” by prestigious Condé Nast Traveler, and in 2017, our parade was listed as one of “America’s Most Unique July Fourth Celebrations” by Land’s End Journal.
The community gets to judge the parade winners. Send us photos of your favorite floats, cars, groups, pets, and bands to chamberaptos@gmail.com.
What better way to celebrate Independence Day than either watching the parade or being in it, and finally to have lunch and dance the afternoon away, with the band “James Durbin and the Lost Boys” in Aptos Village Park? You can celebrate freedom from cooking and doing the dishes, you will have a great day and also help to support the parade that gives Aptos a little slice of fame and a big slice of “hometown” feeling. Happy Independence Day!
Past Parades Time Capsule 1960s
Past Parades Time Capsule 1990s
Celebrate America
Aptos Chamber of Commerce
presents: 2024 4th of July Parade
Sponsors
Ace Portable Services
Aegis Living of Aptos
Allen Property Group, Inc.
Aptos Chamber of Commerce
Aptos Feed & Pet Supply
Bay Federal Credit Union
Betz Works
Beachnest Vacation Rentals
Cabrillo Community College
Cabrillo Gals Softball
Capitola Venetian
Deluxe Foods
Kaiser Permanente
Kim DeSerpa for 2nd District Supervisor
Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant
Private Citizen/Supporter Rita Marseille
New Leaf Community Markets
Rio Sands
Ruth Bates Real Estate
Santa Cruz County Bank
Seascape Beach Resort
Superior Hydroseeding
VHM Christian School
Kristen Brown for 2nd District Supervisor
T-Shirt Design
By Scott Erwert
Erwert Creative is an independent graphic designer/ illustrator specializing in: brand identity, publishing design, packaging and custom illustration services. Scott Erwert offers knockout independent Art Direction, Graphic Design and Illustration services. His professional background has touched upon virtually every realm of the design discipline: client side, inside agencies working with Fortune 500 client base, partner of a design studio, and independent contractor. Scott loves dogs and hopes the parade dogs will stop by Aptos Feed and get a treat! The dogs names are Winston and Nutmeg and they belong to Damian at Aptos Feed. T-shirts are available for $20 at Deluxe Foods, Aptos Feed, Farm Bakery Café & Gifts, Pixie Deli, Aptos Dog and Cat Grooming and Aptos Chamber.
The World’s Shortest Parade
The “World’s Shortest Parade” in Aptos began in selfdetermination, it was not originally about America’s birthday. In 1959, a zoning change was proposed to allow a concrete batching plant in Aptos Village. The community organized to defeat the zoning change and the first “World’s Shortest Parade” was held for the first time.
The parade route is one-half mile long, hence the name, “World’s Shortest Parade”. It begins at the intersection of State Park Drive and Soquel Drive and ends at Parade Avenue. It might be the world’s shortest parade distance wise, but our community loves it so much that it usually goes more than an hour and a half! People start setting their chairs out the night before so they can view it from their favorite spot. Some people also set up barbecues and make it a day!
Party in the Park Aptos Village Park
After the Parade, be sure to stop by for fun, food and games!
Get your groove on with James Durbin & the Lost Boys from 12:00pm – 3:45pm!
Party in the park will be a community celebration again this year with James Durbin and the Lost Boys playing danceable music. We will have games for children, fabulous food, and craft vendors.
Capitola Aptos Rotary will host the Beer Booth and the community will come together for another great 4th of July celebration Please come down to the park once our parade ends and continue the celebration for the 4th of July. Come see our local legends! $5 Donation
Aptos 4th of July Thank You!
The Fourth of July in Aptos is a big deal! The Aptos Parade is a fan favorite,people from near and far plan their day around the “World’s ShortestParade”. Bring your chair, place it in your favorite spot along Soquel Drive (most regulars claim the same “spot” that they have sat at for years) and enjoy! There is no pancake breakfast this year but the Party in the Park is going strong!
Come on down to the park and enjoy The Lost Boys (we dare you not to dance!), lots of food vendors, including Mexican, Indian, “Dippin” Dots, and much more. Start your Christmas shopping with the many craft vendors that will be there or get a little something for yourself! This year the commemorative T-shirt for is sale at Deluxe Foods, Aptos Feed and Pet Supply, and The Aptos Chamber. It is a family friendly event so make a day of it! Join us on July Fourth for the “World’s Shortest Parade,” and don’t forget your chairs! Thank you Aptos Community for making this event so great. Without your participation there would be no parade.
Summer Camps Are Here!
Weekly Camps: 9:00am - 12:00pm June 10th - August 9th
We offer a variety of camps including Anime, Cartoon Clay, Wizarding World, Portraiture & more. Students learn a range of mediums, such as clay, pastels, & paper sculpture.
Celebrating equity and inclusion for all. Everyone deserves inclusive representation and dedicated allies. Kaiser Permanente is committed to destigmatizing disabilities and creating a culture of inclusion for all. Learn more at kp.org/santacruz
For all that is Santa Cruz County. For all that is you.
The Meaning of Aptos
By Kevin Newhouse
I received an email from a woman who recently moved to Aptos. As a new resident, she was uncertain on how to correctly pronounce the name of her new town. It seems that no matter how she attempted to pronounce “Aptos,” someone would correct her. She contacted me to see if there was any historical data that could help determine the correct pronunciation.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question. Not by a long shot. In fact, the pronunciation of Aptos is one of the two most frequent questions I receive. The other is, “What does Aptos mean?” There is no quick and certain answer for either question but let’s start by looking at the meaning of Aptos and then we can look at the pronunciation.
Truth be told, there is no definitive evidence of the true meaning of Aptos. However, all sources agree that it is derived from an Indian word. In fact, Aptos is one of just three contemporary place names in Santa Cruz County the can be traced back to local Indians. The others are Soquel and Zayante.
One of the most common beliefs is that Aptos means “the meeting of two streams,” “where the waters come together,” or some variation of that phrase. The two bodies of water are known today as Valencia and Aptos Creeks. They come together at a point below today’s Highway 1 overpass at Spreckels Drive, which is in close proximity to the village where the original people of this area lived. In a conversation with Aptos History Museum Director John Hibble, Anne Bass, (born March 1, 1919 to longtime residents Paul Johnston and Christina Jensen), told, that “meeting of the streams” as the meaning of the word “Aptos” was well known even when she was a child.
On April 8, 1880, the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian printed a clip claiming that Aptos was named after “the last Indian who trod these fields before going to his new, happy hunting ground. Aptos was said to be upwards of 120 years old and the last descendant of the first families of California.”
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Alfred Kroeber, an American cultural anthropologist whose work focused on collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native Americans, wrote in 1916 that Aptos might be derived form the Spanish word “apto”, meaning skillful.
There are a few other theories (some more interesting than others) but none of which are true. Patrick Orozco, an Ohlone who is a contemporary teacher, singer and storyteller, has said that Aptos means, “the people.” He is from a different triblet or subgroup and does not speak the Aptos dialect, (no one does) but he said all American Indian tribe names mean the same thing, “the people.” Aptos may have also been a reference to the geographical location of the people or it might have even been a word to describe the people’s beliefs or tribal identity.
Personally, I believe the meaning of Aptos is a combination of “the people” and “the meeting of two streams.” Patrick Orozco’s explanation is very consistent among the pattern of other Indian tribe names. However, many of the oldtimer residents claim that “meeting of two streams” is the true meaning and many of them are not far removed from the first non-Indian residents who would have had first hand experience with the Indians and their language. As an educated guess, which is only a theory and not to be taken as the absolute truth, I believe “Aptos” translates to “the people who live at the meeting of two streams.”
So now that we know the different theories on the meaning of Aptos, let’s look at how it is pronounced.The pronunciation of Aptos is debatable between three versions: “ap-toss,” “aptose,” and “ap-tiss.” The first two pronunciations are more common but some of the old-timers still pronounce it “aptiss.” Although most people, including me, pronounce it “ap-toss,” it was first written down by the Spanish and in Español the “o” would be long, favoring the pronunciation, “ap-tose.”
The absence of any documentation, and the uncertainty of the word’s origin, makes it impossible to know for sure the correct pronunciation. So, don’t let anyone convince you that you are saying it wrong…unless you are really butchering it! I have been asked about the origin and pronunciation of Aptos not only by newcomers but also by long-time local residents. I am always so happy to hear people asking questions and wanting to know more about Aptos. After all, it is knowledge of the past that helps us plan for the future.
