Hundreds gather in downtown Coeur d'Alene for annual American Heroes Parade

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - As people across the nation celebrate America's Independence this Thursday, hundreds gathered in downtown Coeur d'Alene for the annual American Heroes Parade.

This year's theme was America the Beautiful. People and parade floats were decked out in red, white, and blue as music ignited the streets of downtown.

Several families said it was nice to see so many people coming out to celebrate America.

"It was so much fun to dance on Sherman," said Lalea Munch.

Munch lives in Coeur d'Alene with her husband Mark, but the couple said they haven't been to the parade in twenty years.

"It's grown tremendously," Lalea said.

"And (it's) perfect weather," Mark added. "We're all celebrating America."

Celebrating is exactly what the community did. There were cheerleaders, tractors, city officials, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, girl scouts, animals, and more all dressed in America's colors.

Megin Shearer, a local mom, said this is something she and her family look forward to every year.

"We love to see everybody come out, celebrate our country," Shearer said. "There's so much America pride in this town and we love it. The kids love it, the parade is fun, and it's just a great Fourth of July activity."

When the color guard and other branches of the military made their way down the parade route, people proudly stood and cheered.

"I really loved seeing the service veterans, that was really inspiring," said Katie O'Connor.

O'Connor said she is on a road trip with her family from Oregon to Glacier National Park. She heard Coeur d'Alene had one of the most patriotic Fourth of July parades and just had to stop.

"This is probably one of the biggest parades we've been to," O'Connor said. "It's really fun, really exciting."

There will also be a Fourth of July fireworks show at the Coeur d'Alene Resort at 9:45 p.m.

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