HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBS) — Thousands of people gathered in the city of Huntington Beach for Fourth of July festivities, including a parade that dates back 108 years.

The patriotic parade — a longtime tradition — was one of many holiday events in the Orange County beach community. It began about 10 a.m. near the Pacific Coast Highway and Ninth Street.

“I was actually born in Mexico so to me, it’s being here. It is important. Being an immigrant and being a citizen,” Abe Hernandez told CBS2′s Kara Finnstrom.

He came Tuesday to chalk out his family’s regular spot on the sidewalk.

But for Huntington Beach native Stacy Zachary, seeing the Pearl Harbor survivors each year is what she looks forward to most.

“The Pearl Harbor survivors are probably my favorite,” she said. “Years ago they all used to walk and you know, there used to be probably 30 or 40 of them. They’d walk down Main Street. Everybody would cheer.”