It’s approximately 7 a.m. on July 4 when Coronado resident Christopher “Chris” Brian Nurding transports a vintage photo to the south end of the Orange Avenue median.
In the hours before American flags take over the city in all forms — overalls, bandanas, sunglasses, hats, and blankets — Nurding and his wife, Stephanie, unload sound equipment, parade swag and their announcer badges along Coronado’s main street. Both are wearing shirts with red, white and blue.
“Check 1, 2, 3, 4,” says Chris, speaking into a microphone standing beside Remington Smedley, from John Roy Sound, who helps with sound set up.
A few feet away, families are resting under cozy blankets decorated with colorful fireworks. All along the median, chairs – mostly empty – stake out Orange Avenue for the upcoming spectacle.
Nurding debuted this year as an announcer in the 77th Coronado Fourth of July parade at station 14. Along with his wife, he’s accompanied by his daughter, Amanda, who recently graduated from Coronado High School.
Chris calls this a full-circle event as he returns to his roots in Coronado, carrying the memory of his great grandparents, a grandfather he never met, and his mother who passed away about 13 years ago.
At 68, Chris remembers sitting on the curb as a 12-year-old, watching the bands and floats go by for the first time – a tradition instilled in generations of Coronado residents.
“It’s a whole community event and it’s great to be a part of,” said Chris. “My hope is maybe (my kids) continue the legacy …If not, at least we’ve honored the past legacies of our family and other families in this town.”
Chris holds up the old picture. It shows Grandma Jean in the parade more than 60 years ago.
“This is my first year announcing,” he says. “Every time we go to the parade one of my kids would always take the photo that we had of Grandma Jean in the parade and hold the picture in their arms or right next to them during the whole parade to take Grandma Jean back to her roots. So, it’s kind of special.”
In the hour leading up to the parade, Chris sings Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
“The announcers made it entertaining,” said Coronado resident Marisol Barrott, an active-duty sailor and first time attendee. “I really liked the beginning part prior to the parade, how they had dancing, and ‘Sweet Caroline’ — my daughter loved that because her name’s Caroline.”
“They had everyone dancing out on the streets,” said Coronado resident Mike Jacobs, the owner and president of QualCraft Construction, which sponsored the announcer station this year. “I’ll be sponsoring forever.”
A snapshot in time
In the photo it’s the 4th of July in 1954. Parade-goers, antique cars and palm trees line the Orange Avenue corridor and in the center is a float carrying a group of gals wearing pageant dresses. A metallic fringe hangs under a sign announcing the young woman sitting on an elevated surface, grinning, with hands resting above a white dress reflecting the gold crowns at her sides: “Miss Jean Greenlee Coronado’s Queen.”
Jean is Chris’ mother, who passed away in 2012. His brother, Stephen, also a Coronado resident, found the picture about a month after attending the 2012 Coronado Independence Day Parade in a family album and had it professionally colorized.
According to Chris, Jean is remembered as a scholastic standout, a local favorite as an equestrian, and a popular student at Coronado High School.
Jean’s parents were high school sweethearts and graduated from Coronado High School in 1926 and 1927. Her dad, Archibald Wilson Greenlee, studied aviation and graduated from the Naval Academy, then married Dorothy and had Jean and a son, William.
After the academy, Archibald returned to Coronado as a seaplane pilot at Naval Air Station North Island and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. He died in a Florida training flight while upgrading from the PBY Catalina to F6F Wildcats at the end of 1942.
The following year Dorothy returned to Coronado with Jean and William and purchased the current family home.
Jean (CHS Class of 1952) went on to be class vice president, homecoming queen, and the first-ever Miss Coronado, two years before the first Miss Coronado pageant was established in 1954, according to Chris.
Jean attended Stanford University where she met Brian F. Nurding whom she married in 1957. In the two years that followed, they had Chris and Stephen.
Chris enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1976 and served four years as an operations specialist, during which he got his private pilot’s license. He went on to work as an air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration in 1981 until his retirement in 2013.
Chris and Stephanie (married 35 years) and their sons, Alex (also an air traffic controller) and Jeremy, moved to Coronado in 2005 when Chris became traffic management controller at SoCal Approach Control.
In 2008, the family welcomed Amanda, this year’s most outstanding performer in musical theatre and drama at the Coronado School of the Arts.
After retiring, Chris took bass guitar lessons and became the band leader of “IT’S NEVER 2L8,” featured in the Coronado Concert in the Park across four different years.
In 2023 and 2024, the band performed in the Coronado Fourth of July parade.
“To be asked to be an announcer it’s something special,” said Chris. “It comes full circle.”
Chris has also been a public address announcer for high school and college sports games. He serves as the talent advisor for Coronado Promenade Concerts.
“It’s not about me and it’s really not about our family,” said Chris. “…It’s a family affair and something very personal for us. But it’s about the people in the parade. It’s about the city and it’s about all the people that are coming to share this. It’s about America and its 250th anniversary.”
At approximately 10 a.m. jets fly over Orange Avenue.
Then Alfonso LeAlcala, accompanied by his 15-year-old daughter, Rachel, sings the national anthem, officially kicking off the parade.
In the next couple of hours, Chris takes the time to accurately announce 133 entries.
“Anything that’s Navy … that takes me back to my roots,” said Chris.
