
Families in Ocean Park embrace historical, festive Fourth of July celebration
Her red and blue dress, which doubles as her solo costume for her dance team in Gray, glittered in the sunshine as she tapped across the board to an instrumental version of Tom Petty's "American Girl."
Isabella had been practicing her tap routine for days ahead of Ocean Park's annual Fourth of July celebration. She and her brother, 7-year-old Kurtis, have watched the parade every summer with their grandparents, Pam and Jeff, who live in Ocean Park year-round. But Friday marked the first time the family from New Gloucester made a float.
Like many families who visit the coastal village nestled in Old Orchard Beach, four generations of Isabella's family have spent summers in Ocean Park, said her mother, Cindy. A few groups of people wearing matching T-shirts carried banners through the parade, showing off their family's historical homes that have been around for decades.
"The Fourth of July itself has built upon years and years of tradition," said Dennis LeBlanc, 79, who has visited the community every summer since 1992.
Some paradegoers described Friday's celebration as a mix of Halloween and Independence Day. Hundreds of people lined Temple Street, awaiting candy and clapping, while various community groups — including a kazoo band — marched down the streets. Among the patriotic red, white and blue, some people wore inflatable dinosaur costumes, "Wicked"-themed outfits and superhero attire.
"Anything goes," said Michele Bouchard, who was gearing up to drive a pirate-themed golf cart with skeletons stuck to the top. Harper, 8, and Nolan and Henry, both 5, sat in the back seat of the cart, wearing eye patches and golden temporary tattoos. This year marked the family's sixth summer visiting Ocean Park and their second year in the parade, she said.
They've already started planning the decorations for next year's "Jaws" theme, Harper said.
After the parade ended, Dennis LeBlanc and his wife, Maggie, found a shady bench in a park to relax. A few blocks away, dozens of people folded up their beach chairs and stayed outside, socializing on their wraparound porches and in their driveways.
Maggie LeBlanc, 79, said she and her husband always visit their second home during the Fourth of July, which falls just around the time they're ready to get away from their home in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Dennis LeBlanc said he was introduced to Ocean Park in the 1970s by his mentor, a retired minister who invited him to his cottage. The historic community, which is affiliated with the Free Will Baptists, has expanded to include community programming, a temple for nondenominational Christian worship and more families who live there during the summer.
"As soon as I came up here, the place was different," he said. "I could kind of feel it."
As the summers pass, the LeBlancs have noticed the vintage cars cruising the parade route getting newer. They've seen people tearing down old cottages to build taller, more expensive homes. They feel deeper political polarization — even the colors red, white and blue "feel different to me now," Maggie LeBlanc said.
But in the summers, she said Ocean Park is where people leave their egos and politics behind.
"It's one of the few places in our world, I think, that there isn't a competition, divisiveness — at least for the day," Dennis LeBlanc said. "It's the way we wish the world outside of here could be. It's simple, caring, kind."
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