Remembering the nation’s beginning in the No. Co.: Atascadero’s celebration offers activities for all ages

Photos by Heather Young • See more photos in our Fourth of July galleries under the tab: Photos.

ATASCADERO — For the first time since the early 1980s, Atascadero had a Fourth of July celebration at Atascadero Lake. Committee member Steve Martin said that it is estimated that about 2,000 people attended the event with about 1,500 going to the zoo.

Organizer Mayor Bob Kelley said the event was a success, even though attendance got light in the late afternoon. He said that the committee saw areas that need improvement for next year and said that the event will continue.

Although everything wasn’t free, it was a low-cost event, which Councilman Jerry Clay said was important to him. The Charles Paddock Zoo, the wading pool, a 1920s carousel and picnic games were free. The Atascadero Police Explorers oversaw two bounce houses and charged 50 cents for five minutes of play. By late afternoon, the bounce houses were unmanned and free.

“We enjoyed seeing all the improvements at the zoo and the kids also loved the bounce houses,” Christine Ames of Paso Robles said.

Volunteers were at the park well before 7 a.m. to ready for the event.

The early birds got to purchase a $5 pancake breakfast, listen to patriotic music and participate in 10K, 5K or one-mile fun runs.

While organizers were expecting 50 participants in the runs, more than 100 runners showed up and ran through the hills of Atascadero. At 10 a.m., a flag ceremony was held at the Faces of Freedom Veterans Memorial to commemorate the country’s founding fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence 236 years earlier.

Throughout the late morning and early afternoon, picnic games such as potato sack and three-legged races, egg toss, pie-eating contest and tug of war were held for people of all ages.

“I loved all the free things for the kids to do: bounce house, merry-go-round, wading pool, and the zoo as well,” Atascadero resident Lisa La Rosa said. “My hope is that more people in our town will come out next year. Overall, it was a fabulous day in the lake park for Atascadero families. I will definitely go next year. If they had some fireworks over the lake, we would not even have to leave town at all for the Fourth of July.”

At 4 p.m., Galaxy Theatres showed “The Wizard of Oz” for free as park activities geared toward children wound down and transitioned to an evening concert by the Martin Paris Band.

“I thought the event was a lot of fun, the kids really had a blast and everything was well put together and affordable,” Cassie Olano of Atascadero said. “I think my favorite was just watching my girl enjoy everything that was offered.”

One children’s activity that continued past 6 p.m. was the carousel operated by Andy McMean of Atascadero. While he said he meant to close the merry-go-round in mid-afternoon, he continued to operated it as many children continued to want to ride it. He said he uses the carousel as a fundraiser for organizations and that it’s a hobby for him.

“The merry-go-round from the 1920s was just so neat,” La Rosa said.

McMean collected donations for the Charles Paddock Zoo. Donations were also collected at the zoo. As of press time, Martin did not know how much was raised on Wednesday for the zoo. At a city council meeting earlier this year, Kelley said that the Fourth of July was historically the lowest attended day of the year.



For the complete article see the 07-06-2012 issue.

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