RIO RANCHO — The City of Vision was not shy on Saturday about its vision for how America’s 250th anniversary should be celebrated.
Rio Rancho kicked off festivities with a parade through City Center. The event included public officials tossing out candy to the crowd, a young Lady Liberty waving and holding her torch, and a three-piece band playing patriotic tunes on the back of a pickup truck. Just when attendees thought the parade was over, several members of the Rio Rancho Police Department rode their motorcycles in a slow-moving circle up the street as a close-out spectacle.
Equally moving was the music down at Campus Park, where the Sky Room Amphitheatre was put to full use. Two bands, the Rio Grande Symphonic Band and the New Mexico Philharmonic, performed patriotic tunes to the delight of families in lawn chairs. Sandwiched in between these performances were remarks by Rio Rancho Mayor Paul Wymer, who read an Independence Day proclamation issued by the city. Wymer was accompanied by his wife, Terri, and Rio Rancho Governing Body members Deb Dapson, Karissa Culbreath and Nicole List…