Fourth Of July Parade Celebrates The Importance Of Community

Dianna Lancione Honored As Grand Marshal Alongside Her Husband, Lonnie

Generosity can make all the difference between a good day and a bad day, a good neighborhood or a bad neighborhood. One need look no further than Severna Park, where in June, an anonymous volunteer built and installed a bus-stop bench for Moose, a local man experiencing homelessness. Also during June, Girl Scout Troop 2000 scrawled positive chalk messages on the Severna Park Middle School sidewalks, and La Posta Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen held a Taste of Italy fundraiser to support the HobbleJog Foundation and people with traumatic brain injuries.

Deeds like these are the reason the Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce (GSPACC) chose the following 2019 Fourth of July Parade theme: “Let Freedom (B)ring – Celebrating America’s and Our Community’s Generosity.” As GSPACC CEO Liz League explained, the chamber wanted to remind people how philanthropic neighbors and businesses are in the Greater Severna Park community.

“There are fundraisers for charities on a daily basis,” League said. “It’s the small businesses who donate big checks, their products and services for every school fundraiser under the sun, and support causes in our neighborhoods. We at the chamber can personally attest that dozens of charities have received funds from our local businesses. We are so fortunate to live in a community and country that has a heart for those struggling and in need.”

This year’s parade will commence at 10:00am on July 4 at St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal and Our Shepherd Lutheran Churches. More than 80 parade entries — community floats, antique cars, fire trucks and more — will traverse the route along Benfield Road, Evergreen Road, Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard and Cypress Creek Road, many of them a shining example of the generosity League mentioned.

Leading the procession will be this year’s grand marshal, Dianna Lancione, and her husband, Lonnie, publishers of the Severna Park Voice. Dianna’s grandmother, Margueritte Mills, was not only the founder of the Severna Park Voice but, along with Skip Carr and Lou Heck, she was one of the creative minds behind the parade, which started in 1975.

Mills served as chair of the parade in 1983 and 1984, and she was named grand marshal for the 1985 festivities.

“I’m honored to be grand marshal because it carries on the tradition in my family,” Dianna said. “My grandmother was grand marshal because she was one of the founders of the parade, so to be involved in the biggest event in our community and be honored for all the good things we’ve done for the community is fantastic.”

Lonnie had a different perspective of the grand marshal distinction. “I think the honor is more about being recognized for what we do, not for who we are or for the fact that Margueritte helped start the parade,” Lonnie said. “I think it’s a way recognize people who really care about the community and show it through their actions.”

The Lanciones have shown their support of the community by highlighting feel-good news and offering advertising opportunities to small businesses since taking over publishing the Severna Park Voice in 1996 following the death of Mills. The husband-and-wife duo handled the whole operation in the beginning, from “soup to nuts” as Lonnie explained. The business would eventually expand and thrive in a market where other newspapers were shrinking.

“When it first started out, it was really just the two of us and we had to do everything, from the graphic design work to taking pictures, all the layout, writing stories, selling ads – you name it,” Dianna said. “It helped us become entrenched in the community because we were involved in every facet of the paper.”

By bringing local news to the community, League said, the Lanciones have kept the community spirit alive.

“Who doesn’t love reading about a neighbor who volunteers, a local sports team, or what’s going on in our backyards?” League said. “The Voice Media is a treasure and reinforces all of the great things in our neighborhoods that we can be proud of while including news to keep us informed. Dianna and Lonnie have done a magnificent job in keeping the ‘old style’ newspaper going while delivering fun and interesting hyperlocal news to peoples’ mailboxes and keeping up with the times with their online paper.”

The Lanciones have been involved with the parade for more than 20 years. “I’ve done everything from serve cotton candy when I was a kid and build floats to take care of the judging for 10 years,” Dianna said.

She developed that passion for the parade while watching her grandmother plan the parade, whether Mills was dressing kids as clowns or building floats. Pat Troy remembers her first parade in 1978, when she was recruited by Mills, who was her business partner with Severna Park Magazine.

“Before I knew it, I was festooning an old flatbed truck with red, white and blue,” said Troy, who recalled her second-place float in 1980, runner-up only to Carr’s real estate float with the Severna Park Bums playing patriotic tunes.

“Basically, the float combined everything that Margueritte loved,” Troy said. “It was Severna Park Publishers, represented by a large banner across the back of the truck; a friend of Margueritte’s who was over 100; the March of Dimes posterchild; some kids from Chesapeake Academy; Mattie Harris with Stanley Home Products; and an artificial Christmas tree with yellow ribbons tied to it and a sign that said ‘free the Iranian hostages.’ Not sure why we won, but it might have been because nobody could figure it out, but they liked the tree with yellow ribbons.”

Since then, Dianna, Lonnie and Voice COO Larry Sells have served as parade judges many times, with the newspaper adding exclusive coverage for the event. “We decided to put out a special edition for the Fourth of July in honor of something that brings the community together,” Dianna said.

Asked what makes the parade so special, the Lanciones cited the hard work of volunteers like Heck and former GSPACC CEO Linda Zahn, who had help from her husband, Steve.

“My favorite aspect is really the organizations or the people who go all out for the patriotic theme,” Dianna said, “just to see the amount of time and effort to making it something the community can really enjoy and is really a tribute to their country.”

The parade is especially fitting for a community like Severna Park, which is full of generous neighbors who truly enjoy giving back and helping their friends in need.

“I love the fact that it’s Americana,” Lonnie said. “It’s like down-home Midwest America — hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet — that’s what our parade is and that’s what I love about it. It gets you back in touch with something bigger than your everyday life.”