Niwot’s Independence Day festivities

Niwotians are gearing up for the annual Independence Day celebration, an event that has been growing every year.

Kim Hawksworth, Julie Breyer and Kathy Koehler and many more volunteers have been working hard to make this year even bigger.

“We have a lot of new volunteers this year,” Hawksworth said. “It’s getting harder and harder to find them, but we have a great group that helps out.”

Hawksworth said this is the first year she is taking over as event coordinator, but that Koehler and Breyer have it well-planned out.

“Coordinating it hasn’t been too bad,” Hawksworth said. “Kathy (Koehler) and Julie (Breyer) know what they’re doing, they have it set up pretty well.”

Hawksworth said that she has a background in event planning, and that she’s happy that the Niwot Community Association does such a great job with it.

“Working with the NCA is great,” Hawksworth said. “It’s a great organization. These guys have it down and it works well the way they’re doing it, so it was easy to jump in.”

The NCA extended an invitation to Gunbarrel resident and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch to ride in an antique car in the parade, and the Niwot Community Band asked if he could serve as a guest conductor for “The Washington Post” march, but his appearance had not been confirmed at press time.

New this year is a pedicab service that will transport from the Divine Savior Lutheran Church on 83rd Street and Niwot Road.

“It’s gotten bigger each year so parking was starting to get tough,” Hawksworth said. “We’re grateful that the church let us use their parking lot. It’s going to be great.”

Hawksworth added that she believes this year will continue to draw people into town for the day.

“Niwot is such a tight-knit community as it is,” Hawksworth said. “It’s nice to see a lot of familiar faces there on the Fourth. People come up from Boulder or down from Longmont too. A lot of people seem to come to Niwot for the parade and we like that aspect of it too.”

She also said that she hopes the holiday will bring people together.

“It’s a good holiday to be celebrating this year especially,” Hawksworth said. “There seems to be a lot of tension in the country with the current political climate. Hopefully holidays like the 4th of July can bring everybody together and remind us that we’re all one country.”

Beyond Independence Day, the NCA is always looking for ways to bring Niwotians together for fun events.

“We will have a great parade and we hope to have a great turnout,” Hawksworth said. “And we’re looking to expand on Niwot events in the future.”

A full list of the day’s activities and sponsors can be found below.