Happy Birthday, America.

Thousands of Southwest County residents made their way to a variety of events Wednesday to celebrate Independence Day, kicked off locally by the 15th annual Star Spangled Fourth of July parade in Old Town Temecula.

The east curb and sidewalk of Old Town Front Street was the popular side for paradegoers, since that was the side with the most shade. The morning sun was blazing and temperatures hovered around 80 degrees even before the parade began.

As parade watchers continued to arrive, those set to march were getting ready about a block away along Mercedes Street.

The shiny convertibles were given final touch ups. American flags and banners were double-checked. And parade participants waited for go-time to get there.

They included beauty pageant winners -- and there were many of those, ranging from babies to teens to proud winners older than 50. There were also quiltmakers, politicians, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, faux gunfighters, horses and those in the saddle and Young Marines in formation.

Finally, 10 a.m. arrived and the Temecula Police Department's ever-growing team of motorcycle officers led the parade.

One of the first to see them pass by was 81-year-old Murrieta resident Kassie Saccani, who sat across from Sam Hicks Park at the parade's starting line.

"This is the same spot we always sit," she said, pointing out that she sunburns easily so the shade was a critical consideration in location.

And Saccani, probably like just about everyone in Old Town at that time, loves a parade.

"All my life I've gone to parades, from Pennsylvania to here, to honor America," she said.

Newbies to Temecula's parade, Jeff and Kathy Smith parked themselves and their three children right next to Saccani, whose "veteran" advice Kathy said they sought earlier for the best place to watch.

"We've heard Temecula has a great parade," Jeff Smith said.

When asked what about parades she likes best, their 12-year-old daughter Alex shyly answered the music. Dad quickly interjected "And boys," leading to an embarrassed grin and a bit of a glare from his daughter.

Many paradegoers donned their patriotic apparel, including Max Valdes, 7, and his godcousin, 9-year-old Caroline McCreary. They proudly wore star-spangled hats on their heads, items that Max's mother, Karen Valdes, said she's had around for years.

Karen Valdes said she and the family have lived in Temecula for 17 years and only missed one of the July 4th parades.

"This is part of the culture of Temecula," she said. "We are extremely fortunate to be able to come out here like this."

Celebrating America's freedom "is so important," she said, "especially with what's going in the world right now."

Some spots along the parade route were two to three people deep once it started.

Many of the several thousand who watched the 70-entry parade probably headed over Ronald Reagan Sports Park a few hours later as the city put on its second Independence Day event.

The park was dotted with canopies of various colors and the crowd grew throughout the day, building to the crescendo of a huge fireworks show Wednesday night.

The hot afternoon -- temperatures had reached the upper 90s by that time -- kept the number of people down slightly over past, cooler years, but once things started cooling off, the park filled.

As local musicians performed on a stage near one of the softball fields, people tossed Frisbees and footballs and there were dads playing baseball with their sons and daughters.

Many people came to the sports park early to take part in that early America ideal of staking claim to a little bit of land to call their own.

Among them were the Dunns of De Luz, who were there by about 8 a.m. to literally mark their spot.

Using orange cones and yellow tape, they cordoned off a large, strategically located rectangle of grass.

"It's close enough to the stage that we can hear the music but it doesn't blast us and we're also near the play area for the kids," Jan Dunn said.

This is the eighth year she as set up the well-planned place for family and friends. She expected about two dozen people to show up before the fireworks started.

Dunn said she is so ultra-organized about the annual event that she has a permanent list on her computer for what to bring to the annual picnic.

"I love this," she said with a giant smile. "The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays."

Inside the yellow tape there were tables, barbecues and plenty of chairs -- all under the shade of a canopy encircled with five American flags.

Dunn's husband led his annual July 4th tradition of making pancake breakfast for anyone who happens by in the morning.

Food was certainly aplenty at the party in the park as many people set up similar areas to barbecue their own goodies and those who didn't had choices from numerous vendors at the event.

All in all, there were some nice ways to celebrate the Fourth of July in Southwest County.

So Happy Birthday, America. You're looking pretty good for 231.

- Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.