On the morning of June 24, hundreds of area residents lined up along West Broad Street to experience the Westland Area Business Association’s annual Independence Day Parade and Celebration as it traveled down the main thoroughfare. For close to an hour, those in attendance were treated to the sounds of high school marching bands, the talent of cheer companies as they demonstrated some of their routines, and all of the free candy that they could handle courtesy of the dozens of businesses and civic associations that participated in the beloved tradition on the city’s westside. Showing his genuine delight at all of the free sweets that were being thrown from the slow moving vehicles is 4-year-old Colton Pettis. The westside resident was making his first appearance at the parade and seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed his experience.
