Charlie Halford is leading Manteca’s Fourth of July parade.

Halford was selected by the Sunrise Kiwanis — the service club that stages the Independence Day parade — to serve as grand marshal.

The parade starts on North Main Street at Jason Street across from the Golden West School at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 4. It will head south down Main Street and then turn west on Center Street to end at Library Park.

 Halford is a retired Manteca police chief who has devoted much of his retirement to community service.

Among his endeavors is volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club. He is part of a crew of Manteca Rotarians that uses the service club’s two portable grills to support community events such as the community Thanksgiving dinner and the Christmas Eve morning breakfast at Manteca Ford as well as assisting other groups staging fundraisers such as the upcoming Manteca Kiwanis Fourth of July pancake breakfast.

Halford has been the key volunteer in setting up the tents and other support facilities for the annual Great Valley Bookfest at Orchard Valley and assists with Give Every Child a Chance events as well as efforts such as the community drive that sent a number of truckloads of supplies to Paradise to help the victims of the devastating Camp Fire in November.

He has served or is on a number of boards including Boys & Girls Clubs of Manteca/Lathrop (served as President); United Way of San Joaquin County (served as President); Doctors Hospital of Manteca; Give Every Child a Chance; and is a member of the Manteca Rotary. 
Halford is a 1972 graduate of East Union High School. He received a BA degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State Sacramento in 1976. He is a 1977 graduate of the Police Academy and graduated in 1991 from the FBI Academy. He has also worked up the ranks through the Manteca Police Department until he was promoted to Chief of Police in 1997.

 The Sunrise Kiwanis are still seeking entries for the Fourth of July parade. The deadline is Friday, June 28, at 11 a.m.

Forms are available on the club’s web site, sunrisekiwanis.org, by clicking the download forms tab or can be picked up at the Manteca Chamber of Commerce office at 183 W. North St.

 The theme this year is “Rocketing into the Future.”

There is no entry fee for non-equestrian entries as the Fourth of July parade is made possible with the Sunrise Kiwanis’ proceeds of their annual downtown Pumpkin Fair.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com