Fourth of July everyone-marches parade fun!

There are posters in most store windows in Hyde Park with details on the Fourth of July everyone-marches Parade. It's one of my favorite Hyde Park events.
People assemble at the Hyde Park Bank parking lot (54th & Old Lake Park) at 11 am or earlier. They'll have red, white & blue baloons, stickers & streamers to decorate bikes, strollers, wagons, watever. You can march with a group or alone. The parade route goes south on Lake Park, east on 55th, north on Hyde Park Blvd and West on 53rd Street. Everyone ends up at Nichols Park where there are games, a patriotic sing-along, free live dance music, free pony and horse rides, as well as shows for kids inside the Park District facility until 5pm. I think we stayed 'til the bitter end last year. You'll also find the ubiquitous ice-cream man. I recommend packing a picnic for after the parade although I seem to remember a group selling hot dogs.
One year we marched with the Parent Support Network, one year we marched with the Spruce Park Advisory Council, last year we marched as the Friends of the Blackstone Branch Library.
There's usually one or two area marching bands and (my favorite) the Hyde Park cowboys. They're the ones on horseback and the ones giving free rides to kids in the park. But they don't stay for long.
It's good, clean neighborhood fun.
*Remember, fireworks in downtown Chicago are on the *3rd*. A crowd gathers on Promotory Point for that and the show is literally a speck in the sky. Bring binoculars and bug spray.