BELTON â Hometown heroes emerged as one of the themes Saturday morning of the Belton Fourth of July Parade. The rain held off and a cloudy overcast kept the temperature down during the 1½-hour parade, which followed a short program on the north steps of the Bell County Courthouse.
The main speaker, Brigadier Gen. Brett Sylvia, acting 1st Cavalry Division commander at Fort Hood, underscored remarks made earlier by Randy Pittenger, president of the Belton Chamber of Commerce, concerning hometown heroes. Sylvia included police officers, firefighters, educators responders and educators in that group. Other unheralded persons in the past year, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the winter storm, he said, have been truck drivers and grocery store workers.