Celebrate the Fourth of July in grand ole style with the World's Shortest Parade in Aptos. The Cabrillo Lions and Britannia Arms will host the Pancake Breakfast at 8017 Soquel Dr. from 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Soquel and State Park Drives and continue to the Bay View Hotel. After the parade, "The Party in the Park" in the Aptos Village Park will feature food, games and fun for the whole family from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donations of $5 for adults are appreciated and children, as always, are free. For more information contact the Aptos Chamber of Commerce office at 831-688-1467.

The County of Santa Cruz Department of Parks and the Simpkins Family will hold a free community swim from noon to 4 p.m. on a first come, first served basis. Barbecue items will be available for purchase with the proceeds benefiting the non-profit group Supporters & Helpers of Arts, Recreation and Parks. The Simpkins Swim Center is located at 979 17th Ave. in Live Oak. For more information call 831-454-7930 or e-mail prc123@scparks.com.

Over 80 speakers will be featured at "Dowsing: Our Resonance with the Earth" July 4-9 at College VIII of UCSC. Learn to use active intuition with pendulums and other dowsing tools to enhance the earth, relationships and jobs as well as your health, life and spirituality. Sponsored by the American Society of Dowsers. For more information contact Karen Ashley at 415-564-6419 or visit www.dowserswestcoast.org.

Celebrate an old-fashioned Independence Day at Wilder Ranch State Park by joining the parade beginning at 11:45 a.m. Bring a musical instrument or noisemaker, dress in period costume, or pull a decorated wagon. There will be a flag raising, speeches, and patriotic music, as well as cake walk, historic lawn games, draft horse wagon rides, ice cream cranking and crafts to make. Wilder Ranch docents will be demonstrating 1912 dairy-ranch work, as well as showing off the newly renovated historic Meder Ranch house. Wilder Ranch State Park is located two miles north of Santa Cruz on Highway 1. For more event information, call 831-426-0505.

Last July 5 approximately 40,000 pounds of debris were hauled off beaches across Santa Cruz County. The Clean Beaches Coalitions' "Pollution Prevention is Patriotic Campaign" highlights the growing public concern of the global marine debris problem. This year on July 4, Pollution Prevention volunteers will distribute garbage bags on seven of the county's most impacted beaches, helping people to clean up after themselves. Clean Beaches Coalition members and volunteers will return the next morning to clean up any debris that remains. For information on how to participate, visit www.cleanbeachescoalition.org.

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History will host "Beautiful Bats: A California Bat Conservation Fund Presentation" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come see these shy and elusive nocturnal creatures up close and personal as you learn surprising facts about them and dispel common misconceptions. There will also be arts and crafts projects for children ages 6 and over. Best of all, this event is free for kids accompanied by an adult. The museum is at 1305 E. Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz, phone 831-420-6115.