As hundreds of families sat down to a pancake breakfast at Winter Garden’s Masonic Lodge, 13-year-old Joceyln Loetz parked her baby blue beach cruiser outside City Hall and waited for the Independence Day parade to begin.
Loetz has been riding in the city’s annual parade since she was 4 years old. This year, she spent four days decorating her cruiser with American flags, streamers, balloons and red, white and blue electrical tape.
“I wanted to pay tribute to the country, and I just wanted it to pop,” Loetz said.
Families have been gathering in downtown Winter Garden for 21 years to kick off the Fourth of July with pancakes and a bicycle parade open to any child who wants to ride.
The All American Kids Parade & Breakfast, which draws over a thousand people, was started by Winter Garden Masonic Lodge No. 165 but the city has embraced it by helping to advertise the festivities and shutting down the street to make way for the kids.
“Besides the Fourth of July being a very important day for us, the kids get excited as well,” said Leo Pedro, president of the lodge.
People enjoy breakfast before the parade at the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden on Friday (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The breakfast is free to children 12 and under and an $8 suggested donation for everyone over 12. The menu included pancakes, sausages and fresh fruit.
The masons cooked the pancakes in the lodge’s small kitchen. And lodge member Brad McDowell arrived at 5:30am to cook 1,800 sausage patties on a gas-powered grill in the bed of his pickup truck.
The Daughters of the American Revolution partnered with the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation to pass out decorations for the kids to spruce up their bikes and talked to them about the importance of the holiday.
Wanda Kenney, left, and Marcea Oetting (as Abigail Adams) pose for a photo during the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Marcea Oetting, a descendant of a major who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill, came dressed as Abigale Adams (wife of Founding Father and President John Adams) to tell the children about America’s founding principles.
“Whenever our country has made a mistake, it’s because we’ve forgot about those principles,” Oetting said. “Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could,” she added, quoting Adams.
Oetting explained to families the ways in which President Adams’ writings helped shape the government.
“The concept of the judiciary branch being separate and not under the executive branch really sprung out of his writings,” Oetting said.
The Winter Garden Police Department had a tent where they gave away 200 bicycle helmets to kids. Before the parade, Winter Garden Mayor John Rees said a few words on the steps of City Hall, festively dressed in blue shorts and an American flag shirt.
Children of all ages participate in the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade though downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Children of all ages participate in the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade though downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Spectators watch the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Joceyln Loetz, 13, participates in the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade through downtown Winter Garden on Friday. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
People line up for breakfast during the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Mom Jana Melo helps Amanda, 4, with decorating her bicycle — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Winter Garden Police Officer Sarah Price helps Landon Wilson, 8, with a new helmet during the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Spectators watch the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Carl the pug is ready for the parade with a red, white, and blue garland — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Mom Jana Melo helps Amanda, 4, with decorating her bicycle, as Elisa, 7, adds a garland to her scooter — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade goes around the iconic clock tower in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Gabriella Turri, a Senior at West Orange High School, sings the National Anthem before the parade — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Wanda Kenney, left, and Marcea Oetting (as Abigail Adams) pose for a photo during the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
People gat supplies to decorate their rides during the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Winter Garden mayor John Rees walks during the Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Left to Right, Jim and Sandra Judovits and Chet King pose for a photo before the parade — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade makes its way through downtown Winter Garden on Friday. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Gabriella Turri, a Senior at West Orange High School, sings the National Anthem before the parade — The Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
People enjoy breakfast before the parade at the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade & Breakfast in downtown Winter Garden on Friday (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
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Children of all ages participate in the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge All American Kids Parade though downtown Winter Garden, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
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While the mayor talked, lodge member Jim Judovics stood behind him wearing a 1776 Continental solider uniform and holding up an American flag.
Judovics, a Vietnam War veteran and a Hungarian refugee who came to America fleeing communism in 1956, is a member of the National Sojourners’ Heros of 1776, an organization that dresses up in historical attire and goes to schools, nursing homes and immigration facilities to teach people about the meaning behind the American flag.
“This government is of the people, by the people, for the people, not the other way around,” Judovics said. “People in this country literary have no clue how good they have it.”
Originally Published: July 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM EDT