'It's the place to be:' Locals line the narrow streets of Corrales for Fourth of July parade

CORRALES — The streets of the small village that sits just outside Albuquerque were soaked at 11 a.m. Friday, but not from downpours that took place overnight. Rather, it was the free-for-all water fight carried out via water guns and balloons by parade attendees of all ages, marking the end of another annual Fourth of July parade.

Every year since 1995, the Village of Corrales — which boasts a population of just over 8,500 people — welcomes visitors from across the state to line a mile of its narrow main thoroughfare, which fittingly bears the same name as the village.

The parade the village hosts has grown to be one of the largest in the state.

Dotty Nelson, a Corrales resident for the past half-century, watched the parade from the back of her SUV with her dog, Osogood, a 6-year-old Great Pyrenees and German shepherd mix. The pup was dressed in a red, white and blue lace wrap-around decorative top.

“He’s a patriotic dog,” Nelson quipped, as she reveled in the annual celebration. “It’s amazing ... all the volunteers and people are so patriotic. It’s the biggest parade in New Mexico, and the water fight’s the best.”

A gray Corrales Police Department Mustang led off the parade, followed by dozens of horses and a long line of classic cars.

Dressed as the Statue of Liberty, Tammy Thornton sat in the backseat of a vintage baby blue convertible Ford Thunderbird. Though a resident of the village for over 20 years, she participated in the parade for the first time this year.

“I love this country, and I asked my dad to drive this beautiful car, and I just thought it’d be a great addition to the parade,” she said. “I think community events like this are important for our country. It brings everyone together.”

Miguel Tittmann, an Albuquerque firefighter and president of the local firefighters’ union, said coming to the parade has been a family tradition since he was a child.

“I tell people when they’re in town with visitors here for the Fourth, ‘Come to Corrales, it’s the place to be.’ It’s the best kind of village, small-town parade there is, and I’m really proud of it.”

At the end of the procession was a jeep with a novelty rubber duck on its roof — and another in its tailgate. As the Jeep headed west on Corrales Road, the people it passed who had just stood or sat through the hour-long parade began splashing those across the street with whatever water weapon of their choice was at hand. The joyous yells of children rang out, and almost everyone got in on the action as the water provided a festive relief from the late-morning heat.