Patriotic music, singing, and a parade all add up to an old fashioned Independence Day celebration in Saratoga according to Event Organizer Anjali Kausar. The free event will be held on Friday, July 4 from 9:30 to 11 AM at the Kevin Moran Park at 12415 Scully Avenue in Saratoga.

Highlights include a parade; ringing of the Liberty Bell by costumed historical figures; group singing; McCartysville band; and free popsicles and US flags. A special patriotic tableau will also take place organized by Holly Fidrych.

Tadashi Okuno said the McCartysville wind band will assemble at Kevin Moran Park and kick off the July 4th event at 9:30 AM with familiar patriotic tunes. The band closes out the event around 11:00AM by serenading the audience with a series of Sousa marches as the children parade around the park.

Click Here to watch the recording of this March 25, 2025 presentation.

Why is "Silicon Valley" located here, in California? The story goes back to the early 1910's, to local ham radio operators trying to break RCA tube patents, angel investors, the sinking of the Titanic, Fred Terman and Stanford University, local invention of high-power tubes, WWII and radar, and the San Francisco Bay Area infrastructure that developed. These factors determined that the semiconductor and IC industries would be located in the Santa Clara Valley, and that the Valley would remain the world's innovation center as new technologies emerged -- computers, storage, software, search, biotech, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles and now artificial intelligence -- and it would become the model for innovation worldwide.

Paul Wesling, an IEEE Life Fellow, has observed the Valley for decades as an engineer, executive, resident and educator. In this non-technical presentation, he provides the colorful history of technology development that began in Palo Alto, then spread across the Santa Clara Valley during and following WWII.

Free Activities

Explore our Pioneer Living program for 3rd-5th grades, and take a walk around Saratoga to spot Bats and Other Wildlife using these pictures.

Pioneer Living.

Bats and Other Wildlife in Saratoga.

The attached presentation gives a quick overview on the roles of a blacksmith in 1850 as well as the blacksmiths that once worked in Saratoga. The information was given in a presentation to the Saratoga Foothill Club as well as was part of a display in the Saratoga Library lobby.

Click here for the presentation: The History of Saratoga Blacksmiths

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