Oilmen Walk in 95th Annual Whiting Fourth of July Parade The City of Whiting is celebrating its 125th year as a city this year and the city has a bunch of events lined up for the summer. One of the first events to start the summer is the annual Fourth of July parade that takes place every year on Indianapolis Blvd. and 119th Street and ending at Oil City Stadium. The annual Fourth of July parade in Whiting, which started in 1919, celebrated its 95th annual parade on July 4. Businesses that were all over Northwest Indiana and high school bands from Bishop Noll, Crown Point, Morton and Whiting high school were all walking in the parade and performing for the crowd along the side of 119th Street. Northwest Indiana Oilmen players Nick Vogelmeier, Cameron Linck, James Meeker and Nate Schneider all walked in the parade, represented the Oilmen, gave out candy to the kids along the side of the street. In addition, Whiting native Andrew Lowe walked in the parade and was popular among hometown fans. “I have been coming here since I was a kid. It is a lot of fun every year,” Lowe said. Oilman Stan also walked in the parade, waving to the crowd and taking photos with Oilmen fans. Oilmen representatives distrusted tickets to the July 4 Oilmen game to many spectators. Some of the businesses in Whiting had mascots or characters promoting and giving out free items for people that watched the parade on the street and asking people come out, not only to the citizens of Whiting, but for people all around the region to support them and draw more people to their business. There were a lot of cartoon characters that were present in the parade to interact with the kids including Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob, Barney and Mr. Pierogi.
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