The original Sam, with "Little Sam", grandson Forrest Frazior
The Little Forest Hills Fourth of July parade started in 2002, after Sylvia and Scot Williams attended the Lakewood parade and decided their neighborhood should have one too.
The Williamses like costumes and themes, so they quickly came up with ideas. Scot would be Uncle Sam, and he has dressed the part every year. Now the parade always has a theme, so he comes up with an Uncle Sam iteration to match it. This year’s theme is cartoon characters and superheroes, so Scot’s costume is “Wonder Sam”.
The first year, there were about 20 people in the parade, and maybe only 25 neighbors came out to watch. But last year, the parade had 100 participants and hundreds more watched.
This year’s parade, which is 10 a.m. Saturday, July 3, ends in a party at Casa Linda Park with a band, a drum line, dancers and watermelon.
Scot says he tries to shake hands with everybody along the parade. He likes the community spirit.
“People hibernate in the summer,” he says. “This is the only time people are outside during the summertime.”
After the jump, Scot Williams’s many Uncle Sam costumes.
Scot and Sylvia Williams, with Scot as "Hippie Sam"
For a pop-culture theme, "Elton Sam"
And here is Uncle Sam, ready for the beach theme
