Independence Day parade to be held on Court Street for its 111th year

This year’s 111th annual Independence Day parade is being brought by the Knights of Columbus to Court Street, a historic but new venue for the parade, taking it through Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.

Starting around 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, the public can attend a mass at St. Paul’s Church, 234 Congress Street.

Following the mass, around 12 p.m., Brooklynites can enjoy the parade, which for the first time will step off from the corner of Bergen and Court Streets, heading to First Place, where it will turn and proceed down to the corner of Summit and Hicks Streets, where members of the USO of Metropolitan New York Show Troupe will have a patriotic performance on the steps of St. Stephen’s Church. The parade had previously been held along 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights.

Throughout the event, the Knights of Columbus Color Corps will lead followed by a color guard from Fort Hamilton. The march will also include Girl and Boy Scout troops, a dance school that will periodically perform, a 1967 convertible with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center resting on its hood, and an old time fire engine. By the end, the march will debut vintage cars and motorcycles.

People viewing the parade from the sidelines will be handed free American flags, according to Richard Kenney, the parade’s former grand marshal and a grand knight of the KOC.

This year, the Knights will present the Pro Patria Award to U.S Army Sergeant Bryan Dilberian, a triple amputee who fought in Afghanistan, and is a member of Columbus Council #126 in Gravesend. NYPD Deputy Chief Charles Scholl will be awarded the Father James Brogan Award for Community Service, honoring his tremendous dedication to the Brooklyn community.

This year’s grand marshal will be Robert Fox, a Dyker Heights resident who is vice chair of the Long Island Conference of the Knights of Columbus.

“It’s an old-fashioned, all-American parade,” said Kenney. “It’s going to be nice for the people, particularly for the kids, giving them a sense of patriotism.”