A parade Saturday in downtown Bradford will highlight the area’s contributions to American history, ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Darren Litz is one of the parade organizers, and the chair representative for McKean County’s America250PA chapter. He said the U.S. Army Old Guard’s Fife and Drum Corps is traveling from the Washington D.C. area to lead the parade.
"I think that will be a huge draw for our people that are coming out to see the parade," Litz said.
Litz said there will also be an equestrian group displaying America’s different flags throughout history. He said they're also celebrating how McKean County contributed to the growth of America.
“Whether it’s the timber industry, the oil industry, the glass industry, a lot of these things were number one in their era, in their time," Litz said. "You know, the oil industry still continues to operate the oldest continuous oil refinery in the world that’s located right here in Bradford, Pennsylvania.”
Organizers say more than 100 groups and individuals will march in the parade, including the American Refining Group, based in Bradford.
Jeff Brewer, the company's vice president of operations, said their float at the parade will show what the oil refining process looks like.
"It's going to have at the beginning an oil derrick that they produced in our shop, and then that will be piped to a tank in the middle," Brewer said. "And then on the back end we have an old pilot plant that we no longer use, but it looks like a process unit. It'll be piped for that process unit. So you kind of see the oil from production through to the manufacturing."
The Zippo Manufacturing Company and the W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company are also taking part in Saturday's parade.
“We’re excited to see that focus on things being made in the U.S. and the opportunity to kind of spotlight some of our work," said Katie Zapel, who runs the Zippo/Case Museum and is the archives manager.
Zapel said they've made commemorative knives and lighters for America's 250th anniversary, many of which have already sold out online.
Zippo and other area businesses, foundations and groups are also sponsoring the parade. And McKean County got a $20,000 matching grant from America250PA this year.
Saturday's parade in downtown Bradford starts at 11 a.m.
