MD: Classic cars, fire trucks and farmers rule in Darlington's Independence Day Parade

From ExploreHarford.com:  Classic cars, fire trucks and farmers rule in Darlington's Independence Day Parade

Emma Cieri of Forest Hill waves her flag during the Darlington Fourth of July parade Saturday. (Nicole Munchel | Aegis staff, Patuxent Homestead / June 23, 2012)

Fourth of July came early for Darlington Saturday, when the Independence Day Celebration and Parade came rolling down Castleton Road and Main Street in the small northern Harford County town.
The 45-minute parade drew people from not only Harford, but from Cecil and Baltimore counties, too.
Parade lovers lined the streets, sitting in lawn chairs, some on their porches and others standing and waving to everyone who passed by.
Bruce Bruder sat outside of his home on Main Street where he had an excellent view of the bands, floats and fire trucks.

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"I get to see a lot of my neighbors in the parade," Bruder said. The Darlington resident said the big appeal of the event is to "see what people are doing these days."

The best part, however, would come later that night, he said.
"There are great fireworks after this," Bruder commented. "They are nice as anyplace in the county."
Kids on the street loved watching the tractors drive by and went crazy as a few cars tossed candy into the crowd.
Louie Boeshore, who was visiting a friend in the community, was picking sweet treats up from the grass.
Boeshore, who is from Dundalk, said it was his first time at the parade and said the event had "a lot of variety."
The classic cars, he said, were "something I've never seen before."
Old cars were mixed in with new, including one with hydraulics that bounced down Main Street.
That car caught the eye of Lisa Brooks-Hunter, who was watching the parade with her two grandchildren, Keshawn and Kenny Hunter.
"I come every year," the proud grandmother said. Brooks-Hunter, who grew up in Darlington, said because the community is so small everybody seems to know everybody and that was a huge draw.
"It's small. It's family," she said smiling.
Down a few houses sitting outside of her home was Meghin Herchel and her son, along with friend Charlene Pool and her daughter.
"I love the dancing and marching bands," Pool, an Elkton resident, said. Herchel, who said she watches the parade every year, loves the old cars the most.
Fire companies from several counties were represented in the parade, including Harford's own Aberdeen Volunteer Fire Company in a classic fire engine, Joppa-Magnolia, Level and, of course, Darlington.
Carrie McCurry and her husband sat in a golf cart as the fire engines blared their horns and flashed their lights.
"I just love to come out and watch," McCurry, who lives down the road, said.
She added that there seemed to be "more to it this year," with more vehicles and people participating.
While McCurry commented that the parade was "nothing like it used to be," she still never misses the yearly celebration.
And, as promised earlier by Bruce Bruder, a fine fireworks display capped off the evening's festivities.