Fourth of July parade rolls down Santa Barbara’s State Street

Red, white and blue was everywhere you looked. Thousand of people lined the streets of Santa Barbara for the city’s annual Fourth of July parade.

While floats, bands and patriotic scenes rolled down State Street, there was one organization that was denied entry. Veterans for Peace had its float ready to go before finding out Spirit of ’76, the group that runs the parade, denied its entry.

“They know full well why,” Spirit of ’76 President Paul Lamberton said. “It’s a bit childish for them to start pouting at this late date.”

But Veterans for Peace says the decision to reject their float didn’t make much sense.

“The part that they found objectionable didn’t seem all that objectionable to us,” Veterans for Peace member Ron Dexter said. “But they run the parade.”

Parade organizers say the group is welcome to reapply for next year’s parade. Veterans for Peace fully intends to do so.