With the smell of deep-fried candy bars and kettle corn in the heat of an upper 80s summer, residents from across Champaign county lined up along Lincoln Avenue Monday to watch the Annual Freedom Celebration parade.

At 1:07 p.m., the parade began with a bang as a firework exploded in the air-the signal of the start of the event.

The vehicles crept down the road, heading south to the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Lincoln, where they passed under a large American flag suspended with green rope from the extended ladders of Champaign and Urbana fire engines.

Police motorcycles from the University of Illinois and Champaign and a squad car from Urbana led the parade, flashing their M.A.R.S. lights to cheers and applause from the rows of people who had staked their spots with captain’s chairs and blankets. Residents gawked upward at the sunny sky as planes flew overhead, leaving trails of white smoke.

For graduate students Ashwin Suresh and Mohid Jolly, this was their first Fourth of July parade in Champaign-Urbana.

“I flew in just yesterday to be here,” said Suresh, who arrived from the country of Dubai to attend the festivities. The celebration was Suresh’s second ever Fourth of July in the United States.

It was, however, Jolly’s first Fourth of July.

“I’m surprised how people are making political statements in the parade,” said Jolly.

In addition to the the appearance of Champaign and Urbana mayors, Gerald Schweighart and Laurel Prussing, the parade was infused with politics, as several groups representing both sides of the political spectrum marched in the Freedom Celebration.

The group Anti War Anti Racism Effort (AWARE) carried signs alongside their float, protesting the current U.S. administration and its role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Another parade marcher wore a mask depicting President Bush while holding a sign with the letters “I L-I-E-D” highlighted from the words “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”

The Champaign County Rifle Association also made an appearance, promoting Second Amendment rights, with the slogans “Soldiers Protect our Liberty” and “Guns Save Lives” on the side of their floats as two older members shot blanks off from antique muskets and pistols.

Local high school marching bands played patriotic tunes as their color guards twirled flags sporting their school colors. Parent volunteers walked alongside them, spraying mists of water to keep them cool.

More streams of water came from children’s squirt guns on top of fire engines as sirens roared and lights flashed.

Engineer Wally Worley has been with the Champaign Fire Department for 19 years, and yesterday was his third time in the parade.

“I’d rather watch than drive in the parade,” said Eng. Worley, who drove a fire engine in the parade.

Children along the parade route-which started at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Nevada Avenue, turned west at Florida Avenue and finished at the corner of First Street and Kirby Avenue-waved 4-by-6 inch flags as drivers and passengers on floats honked horns and smiled back.

Before the parade, volunteers from the Exchange Club of Champaign handed out free U.S. flags to little children, said member Marybeth Hllhubner of Urbana.

“It’s different every year,” she said. “They add some things, they subtract some things.”

Volunteer parade marshals like Jesse Murray and Shawn Malone, both from Urbana, helped keep the streets clear and clean.

“I thought I’d come out and try to help the community,” said Murray, who volunteered for the first time this year. “It’s a special day and I thought I’d be a part of it.”