CAPE MAY – U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May is scheduled to host an Independence Day Sunset Parade at the base at 8 p.m. July 4, in honor of Cape May County first responders and health professionals who were on the frontlines keeping the community safe while fighting Covid over the last year.
The event is free and open to the public.
According to a release, the gates of Training Center Cape May will open at 7:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to use this time for security screening, parking and seating. Guests should plan on being seated by 7:50 p.m. Sunset parades are exciting and fun for the entire family; however, children must be accompanied by an adult throughout the ceremony.
Visitors should expect increased security screening for the event, and guests are not permitted to bring bags of any kind (with the exception of diaper bags or medical bags) to the seating area including purses, camera bags and backpacks. Photography is permitted and encouraged, but cameras must be removed from their bag prior to arriving at the seating area. Guests are encouraged to leave bags in their vehicles during the parade.
Also, visitors attending the event must have a valid, state-issued or government-issued identification card in order to access the base.
Sunset parades are military ceremonies featuring marching troops and the recruit ceremonial drill team. More than 300 recruits will march in the parade and strike the National Ensign from the parade field at sunset.
The Coast Guard Recruit Ceremonial Drill Team will perform complex facing and drill movements, and dangerous rifle tossing routines. The group performs their complicated and precarious routines without verbal commands or cues.
The Coast Guard has been active in Cape May County for more than 150 years. From 12 life-saving stations that graced the barrier islands, beginning in 1849; to cutters operating out of Sewell’s Point that foiled rumrunners off the Jersey Coast during Prohibition; to the Mounted Beach Patrol guarding the shores on horseback during WWII – the Coast Guard’s history is inseparable from Cape May County.
Today, the training center is the sole accession source for the Coast Guard’s enlisted workforce.
In the event of inclement weather, visitors may call Training Center Cape May’s base information line, at 609-898-6700, the afternoon of the event for cancellation information. Guests are allowed to park both on and off base. Security will direct guests where to go.
