The Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday this year, but at the packed holiday celebration at Drake Park and around downtown Bend, it felt like Saturday.

By midafternoon, the day was proceeding according to longstanding tradition. It began, as it always does, with the Lions Club’s pancake breakfast, followed by the pet parade, then games and events at the Old Fashioned 4th of July in Drake Park, and at 2 p.m., the Freedom Ride through downtown. At sundown, of course, were the fireworks, which on this Wednesday followed a fire at the base of Pilot Butte.

At Drake Park, there was face-painting, hair-dyeing, temporary tattoos. Some adults were drinking openly, in defiance of park rules, and others, discreetly, in parked cars. That skunky smell familiar to outdoor events in the Pacific Northwest could be detected near the street.

Everyone filed slowly, shoulder-to-shoulder, past vendors selling handmade art and rich cuisine.

There were so many dogs — many holdovers from that morning’s famous pet parade. There were hyper poodles, eager sheepdogs and smiling pugs. One enormous mastiff in a patriotic bandanna turned heads and drew gasps from children.

“There was a good variety of dogs this year,” said Kelsey Price, an administrative assistant for the Bend Park & Recreation District. “Lots of goats. And more horses than I’ve ever seen.”

Some of the dogs at Drake Park would likely be locked down and sedated for the evening’s fireworks. But some, like Susan Johnson’s Pomeranian, Buffy, were expected to take them in stride.

Wearing a purple tutu (with pink ribbons added as an accent “because she’s a special little girl”), Buffy, 10, panted calmly when a large shell blew in the distance.

“I could shoot a gun right by her and she’d be fine,” Johnson said.

But Roobe, a sheepdog mix of about 8 years, would “freak out” each time, according to Roobe’s minder on Wednesday, Cecilia Clark, 13.

“She’ll probably be attached to my mom’s leg tonight,” she said.

The Pet Parade, which dates to 1932, is designated an Oregon Heritage Tradition by the Oregon Heritage Commission.

Matt Mercer, recreation director for the district, estimated this year’s crowd at about 4,000 people using a “super-scientific” method of crowd measurement, he said.

“Let’s see, we gave out 2,000 Popsicles — that’s one each child, and at least one parent per child,” he said.

Free sweet treats for kids are historic as well, a holdover from the original event.

Bend Park & Recreation has a $25 million operating budget and oversees 88 parks across 3,034 acres. It’s handled Fourth of July festivities since the 1940s, and continued after the district separated from the city in the early 1970s.

Clogged with floaters and paddlers, the Deschutes River felt like this city’s actual main drag Wednesday.

Ralph Lee, of the Central Oregon Prospectors Association, said the river’s laziness makes it a poor place to pan for gold. COPA has claims on three rivers in Central Oregon, all higher in elevation than the Deschutes.

Lee, who demonstrates mining techniques at local schools, tapped his plastic pan Saturday at COPA’s booth, just a few feet from the Deschutes. In it was between $10 and $15 in gold flakes, and all of it was going home with him that day.

“If these people got to take it home, we wouldn’t be able to do this anymore,” he said.

Local businesses were handing out swag near the games and activities they’d sponsored. The Humane Society of Central Oregon had a rabbit and pair of “bomb-proof” kittens. Adoptable dogs get lots of love at large public events like this, but kittens and rabbits do better around exploding objects, said humane society outreach coordinator Lynne Ouchida.

The baby animals were plainly effective at drawing a crowd of young gawkers ready to poke a digit in their cage. A dad tried gently to dissuade his daughter from taking one home.

“That one would eat too much,” he said. “And that one would sleep all day.”

The Bend Fire Department fitted replica turnout gear on interested juniors, like Brecken Poulos, 5, there with his younger brother and mom, Erica. Though impressed with his new look, the boy said he still intended to be an engineer when he grows up, or “someone who builds stuff,” he clarified when asked.

Expressing a more active interest in this possible career path was Emily Moore, 15, of Bend. A fire department volunteer suggested the girl and her younger sister make a trip to the station, where a “lady firefighter” might show them around. She said she’d been inspired by stories from friends of Rhett Larsen, the longtime local paramedic and recently minted Bend firefighter who died last month in a motorcycle wreck on U.S. Highway 26 outside Warm Springs.

Much talk around the Bend Fire post centered around Larson. Emily is a family friend of Larsen’s and she attended his memorial service.

“The stories the people from his firehouse were telling were pretty inspiring,” she said.

Ken and Annitta Callison, of Redmond, were there with their two handsome 2-year-old standard poodles, Percy and Penny, who didn’t stop pulling in different directions.

“They’re overstimulated, that’s what this is. When they’re alone with us, they’re fine,” said Ken Callison. “They just need to get socialized. That’s why we’re here, too.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com