Organizers Recall First Event In 1986
If you’ve ever been to downtown Lexington on the Fourth of July, you know the spectacle well: a hoard of excited children perched on bikes and scooters, decked out in red, white and blue, tearing down Main Street as frantic parents run behind. It’s a delightful celebration of childhood, facilitated by an entire community.
What you might not know is how the parade came into being.
The year 2026 marks the 41st year that kids, parents and community members will gather, tie streamers and balloons on bikes and trikes of all kinds, and hope no one crashes as thrilled children whiz down the big hill through the city.
Dianne Herrick remembers the exact moment the idea for the bike parade came to mind in 1986.
“Our friend Mary Anne (Gilmore) came up to me and said, ‘Dianne, I can’t believe that there’s nothing happening here on the Fourth of July. We’re Lexington!’” Herrick was the right woman for the job: As the executive director for the newly formed Lexington Downtown Development Association (LDAA), Herrick led the LDAA’s involvement in the Main Street Program, a National Trust for Historic Preservation initiative to help small historic towns and communities preserve and encourage their economic vitality.
And what better than a Fourth of July parade through the city?
Herrick, who had moved from Los Angeles to the area, had previously organized a kids’ bike parade through her neighborhood and saw the joy it sparked in the children.
“We thought, ‘Why don’t we have a kiddie bike parade?’” Herrick said. “Dressing up is a part of childhood. And here, you’re dressing up your bike, and you get to ride down Main Street.”
She set the organizational plan in motion with the help of an army of local moms, including Gilmore and Phyllis Parker, a longtime local teacher.
Together, the organizing group settled on a symbol for unity to lead the effort: a segmented rattlesnake based on an iconic cartoon attributed to Benjamin Franklin in 1754. The segmented snake was meant to urge colonial unity during the French and Indian War. The parent volunteers gathered local children at a house on Edmondson Avenue to make a giant papier-mâché serpent.
“It had kind of a dragon head, and the rattler tail of the snake had sound effects with stones in an oatmeal container,” Parker recalled last week. “It was something a little bit more fun. It wasn’t just bicycles and tricycles. It was like we had a float.”
On the day of the first parade, families and local safety officers gathered at the top of Main Street. In the center were about 12 children marching down the street, each holding a segment of the snake as other kids rode their decorated bikes alongside.
“The kids felt like they were making a big contribution,” Parker said. “They were the parade, and they felt like they were important. The kids are the center of it, and it’s really important to be the center of it.”
At the time, there were only a handful of other dedicated kids’ programs in Lexington. The parade was one of the first of many beloved kids’ and family-friendly traditions that have evolved around town since then.
But Herrick said that first Fourth of July parade was more than just a fun activity for kids: it was a symbol of the collective work that it takes to make a community that includes everyone. “Here, you have people caring about people. We’re small, which is an advantage,” she said. “Lexington is a community where the various partners try to make it work.”
The parade is now organized by Main Street Lexington. Herrick, who ran the LDDA for eight years, said that while she’s glad she’s no longer organizing the parade, she loves watching it bring people back to town year after year to participate. She’s happy to watch the parade continue to grow – from the safety of the sidewalk.
“I love the scenes of parents sort of harassed as they help the kids down the street, or the kids very happy or very upset and in tears. Kids going through all the emotions of joy to frustration,” Herrick said. “It’s a microcosm of what it’s like to grow up in this community.”
This year’s Lexington Children’s Bike Parade starts next to the Oak Grove Cemetery, with face painting and bike decorating at 9 a.m. and the parade at 10 a.m. Children 12 and under on bikes, tricycles, or in strollers are invited to participate.
The parade will go on in fair weather or a light drizzle.
CHILDREN wait to head down the street for the second annual bike parade in 1987.
A FIFE, drum and an early American flag, played and carried by local youths, lead off the second annual Children’s Bike Parade in 1987. (N-G file photos, courtesy of W&L Special Collections)
