Mayors Council vice president Robert Hofmann estimated between 29,000 to 32,000 residents were at the parade, including the participants.
“It was lower than last year. We’re still extremely happy though,” he said. Last year the number was around 40,000. Hofmann said they based the number of people attending on the amount of folks at each of the 130 canopies, which was around 20 per canopy.
“About 1/5th or 1/4th of the population was there. It was a testament to the island showing appreciation to the military and to the manamko’,” Hofmann said.
The parade started out with the annual Liberation Run, which was followed by a wreath-laying ceremony and moment of silence across the street from Pigo Cemetery, where Therese Lujan died and two others were injured last year after a rotted tree branch fell on them.
The tree has since been cut down to just a stump. Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo, first lady Christine Calvo, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo and Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta joined two family members at the site where they placed a colorful, floral wreath and prayed for Lujan.
Bikers
Immediately after the ceremony, hundreds of bike riders drove down the route, followed by the Liberation Day Color Guard. Guam’s village grand marshals, riding in vintage vehicles ranging from a 1968 Ford Mustang to what looked like a souped-up classic Ford T, were also escorted to the grandstand.
Various organizations and military units braved the heat and a couple of brief thunderstorms as they walked the mile-long parade route.
Floats
But the most important event everyone was waiting for were the floats. Each had their very own unique design which coincided with this year’s theme.
There were four categories for the float competition —Village; Government/Military; Non-Profit; and Business. Each winner of each category won $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place.
Winning this year’s Village category for the third time was Santa Rita, followed by Agat and Inarajan.
In the Government/Military category, the Guam International Airport Authority placed first, followed by the Department of Public Works and the combined agencies of Guam Power Authority/Guam Waterworks Authority.
For the Non-Profit category, the United Chinese Association got the top spot, followed by the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Yigo Jets Youth Football organization.
Lastly, in the Business category, there were only two winners. Navy Exchange won first place, followed by Underwater World/Sea Grill.
