Random picture thread for Friday

THE DAY THAT WAS - CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE DAY IN ALASKA ON THE 4th OF JULY

-From Parade to Popping Kettle Korn-

In this below linked video playlist share the experience of an Alaska 4th of July Parade held on the 250th anniversary of the Republic.

Included videos are of marchers, a horse drawn freedom wagon, beauty queens, rotating equestrians, anti auto mushers and even the on site making of the Kettle Korn seen carried by a spectator on the side of the parade route.

Also added are a fly by over the parade route by a pair of aeronautical dare devils fling in tandem, a stunning rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and concluding fireworks.

Link to Video Playlist of Independence Day Parade in Alaska

https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLH4Yn2jGPJrU

Thimbnails of the Videos in the above linked Playlist:

Concurrently taken photos and Screenshots from the above linked videos:

Spectators gather for the festivities, Pictured at Center former Anchorage Mayor and Alaska Governor Tony Knowles:

The Parade Begins:

And Continues:

The Fly Over:

On site Kettle Korn Popping:

Ending the day watching the Nationally Broadcast Fireworks:

@JWP said:

Thanks for posting that. It brought back childhood memories of seeing Wendover Will although the pedestal did not look as I remembered it. Then too the road I rode on between Nevada and Utah was then Highway 40 while now it is Interstate 80.

Doing a little research I learned that Wendover Will was originally built in 1952 and then around 2003 was dismantled and returned to a storage yard in Utah where he had been originally built by Young Electric Sign Company. He languished for two years there until a community effort got him back to Wendover where he was relocated and put on a newly built pedestal. Then in 2023 he was apparently relocated to West Wendover, repainted, and had his neon lights replaced with LED lights by the same Young Electric Sign Company.

Here are depictions of what he looked like before 2003 as I remembered him. Notable is the then signage on the pedestal which hearkened a welcome to Utah on the side looking toward Utah with the same words that Utah's Brigham Young stated upon entrance to the Salt Lake Valley, "This is the [right] Place." Although those words no longer welcome the entrance to Utah at Wendover, they are preserved on the "This is the Place Monument" in the "This is the Place Heritage Park" overlooking the Salt Lake Valley.

Originally standing at 63 feet tall with 1,184 linear feet of neon he was entered into the Guiness Book of Records as the World's tallest mechanical cowboy. His arms wave, and his eyes blink.

Wendover itself is also known for its nearby Bonneville Salt Flats and Great Basin Desert. That and a nearby airfield have been sets for many films including the 1996 "Independence Day."

WENDOVER WILL AS I REMEMBERED HIM:

Facing Utah:

Facing Nevada:

AN UPDATE:

Massive Construction Project to Replace Anchorage’s Demolished 4th Avenue Theatre Picks up Momentum.

It has been four years since Anchorage Alaska lost its iconic and historic 4th Avenue Theatre to the wrecking ball. For months and months flattened earth stood vacant making one wonder if all the grandiose plans to erect a mega structure had been vacated as well,

Looming in the background was the yet to be blasted to oblivion 1st National Bank building that had stood vacant for an equally long time. Its demolition had been promised to be the first by explosives in the State of Alaska Yet boarded up it still stands as seen to the right in this video,

In this video the groundwork appears to have now been laid for a new structure to rise phoenix like from the 4th Avenue Theater’s “ashes,”

Link to video of the finally going forth Construction after 4 years:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KZrqwFihRDw

Photos:

The Original 4th Avenue Theatre in its first decade:

Summer of 2022:

Today: