The parade had its first-ever grand marshal in Trent Kowalik, the Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's "Billy Elliot," who first learned to dance at Dorothy's School of Dance in Bellmore. The annual procession features community groups, including the Daughters of the American Revolution/Jerusalem Chapter, the Chamber of Commerce and the Wantagh Fire Department, as well as the crowning of a Miss Wantagh. Under sunny skies, the parade participants assembled at the Wantagh 5 & 10 shopping center at 9:30 a.m. on July 4, then headed north on Wantagh Avenue toward Island Road and east onto Beech Street to Wantagh Elementary School.
