Riverside welcomes hundreds for Fourth of July parade, pancake feed

A record crowd of more than 500 people turned out for a big slice of Americana Wednesday morning in Central Riverside Park.

What began 22 years ago as a couple hundred neighbors gathering on the Fourth of July has grown into a citywide step back into a simpler time: Shade, a cool breeze, picnic tables, some food and a lot of reconnecting.

?It?s a group of neighbors who may live next door to each other or blocks or miles away coming together to share a morning to reflect on their lives and their friendships,? said Kathy Dittmer, the Riverside resident who organized the morning. ?It?s a chance for young families who just moved into the area to meet new families. And it?s a chance for children to celebrate the birth of the nation in a way they can understand.?

The annual pancake feed and children?s parade ? ?food, fun and fellowship,? as Dittmer put it ? drew its biggest crowd ever Wednesday, fueled by a favorable morning weather and the usual onslaught of airborne Chris Cakes pancakes.

On Wednesday, though, there were as many from outside of the neighborhood as in, drawn by the family reputation of the Riverside event.

?We just love this community, Riverside in general,? said Jenny Light of Goddard, who brought her 2-year-old daughter, Jameson ? brightly decorated wagon in tow ? and her husband, Justin, to the parade.

?We knew this would be something nice. Everyone?s just really pleasant and we?re all here for the same reason.?

?Anybody in Wichita knows about Riverside,? Justin Light said.

The Riverside neighborhood is hard to explain, said Sheldon Xenos, who runs Chris Cakes Pancakes with his wife, Kathy.

?As you look around, the numbers, the crowd that comes out strikes you,? Xenos said. ?In communities anymore, it?s hard to get people together. But in Riverside, we never seem to have a problem with that. It?s just a close-knit community.?

Very close-knit, said Howard Eastwood, 81, who has lived with his wife, Donna, in Riverside since 1973. Eastwood is the former owner of Eastwood Photographic Studio in Wichita.

Eastwood and his wife said the old-style neighborhood will be their last move.

?This is about seeing people we haven?t seen,? Eastwood said. ?We don?t walk the area like a lot do. We see people on their porches.?

That?s the Riverside appeal for the Eastwoods: Sitting outside on the porch on a cool night. Talking across a fence and alley to a neighbor. The barking dogs that no one seems to mind.

?It is a slice of an earlier time,? Eastwood said. ?I hope people appreciate that Riverside is a unique place.?

Jameson Light?s grandfather, Galen Davis, does.

?I think they?ve done it,? he said about Dittmer?s goal for the parade. ?They?ve brought the entire community together on a beautiful morning.?

Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or bwilson@wichitaeagle.com.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2012/07/04/2397721/riverside-welcomes-hundreds-for.html

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