BRISTOL — She can’t control the weather, she can’t control the economy, but Judy Squires has control of just about everything else this week. Parade chairwoman for the Bristol Fourth of July Committee, Ms. Squires is near the end of a year-long marathon planning and executing the grand procession that returns to Bristol this Saturday.

At the beginning of a long week and with the words to “America the Beautiful” blazoned across her red, white and blue shirt, Ms. Squires sat down to talk about what people can expect on Saturday.

Click here to watch a slideshow of events leading up to the parade

They can expect most of what they’ve seen in the past — marching bands, war veterans, leaders of government and soldiers in uniform. They can also expect a lot for the kids. A mother who spent many years watching the parade with her two girls, Ms. Squires felt the parade could have more attractions for children. So she added an array of new, kid-friendly marchers.

Headlining are two comic book heroes who are now blockbuster movie stars — Spiderman and Wolverine. No, actors Tobey Maguire and Hugh Jackman will not be in Bristol, but their heroic likenesses, officially licensed by Marvel Comics, will be. As Ms. Squires said, “these are the real deal ... I think the kids will get a kick out of it.”

Wally the Green Monster, on loan from Fenway Park in Boston, will march on Saturday. So will Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer and her sidekick Diego. A legion of Star Wars-inspired characters will be there, as will a “Boy Mouse” and “Girl Mouse” who some might mistake for Disney characters.

Pogo Dave will be bouncing down the parade route. A clown will be driving a car with a gorilla caged in back (don’t be surprised if he breaks free now and then). And the always popular Clydesdale horses will clomp the historic route as well.

No Mummers this year

Though many of the familiar attractions return this year, the older set will be missing one of their favorite acts. There are no Mummers this year. Ms. Squires tried to lure back one or more of the popular uptown string bands from Pennsylvania, but none could afford the trip. It’s the most obvious sign of how the economy has impacted the parade.

Despite a tight budget, Ms. Squires set aside money to pay the Mummers to return to Bristol, but the bands have been hit by their own money problems and declined her invitations. “I’m disappointed, too,” she said.

The economy has also thinned the ranks of marching bands. Seventeen bands will perform during the parade on Saturday, compared to 24 last year. Again, funding shortages have forced some bands to cut back on their travel.

On the positive side of the ledger, the parade features some of the preeminent bands around. The Cadets of Allentown, Pa., The Crossmen of San Antonio, Texas, and The Carolina Crown lead the list. Navy Band Northeast, the Portuguese Independent Band, the Mystic Highland Pipeband and the Mt. Hope High School Marching Band are other crowd-pleasers.

Expect a sea of white as an unusually large contingent of sailors, perhaps as many as 180 from the visiting U.S.S. Bulkeley destroyer and the Newport Navy base, march through Bristol. They will be joined by members of all armed forces and veterans of every major conflict.

Among the 27 floats in this year’s parade is a special attraction courtesy of Raytheon. The Portsmouth firm arranged a float featuring the sailor, Middletown resident George Mendonsa, and nurse, Greta Friedman, captured mid-kiss in one of the most recognized photographs in history, taken in Times Square minutes after Japan surrendered in World War II. (For a detailed look at Mr. Mendonsa’s life and the famous image, see this week’s Life section.)

Among the more notable marchers, Ms. Squires singled out three Bristol servicemen recently returned from Iraq. Jimmy Pepoon will be walking as Sen. Jack Reed’s military aide. Servicemen Jeff Andrade and Ed Guadalupe will be marching as well.

Mini-parade comes first

Though she’d like to avoid the realities of the economy, Ms. Squires can’t. The parade is big business. Though the soldiers, veterans and politicians march for free, most others do not. The Fourth of July Committee pays stipends to the bands, the children’s characters and the skilled performers who visit Bristol each Fourth.

Organizers need money to keep the parade marching each year, which is why they’re trying a new approach to solicitations on Saturday. Those waiting curbside Saturday morning should expect a mini-parade to precede the real thing, which steps off at 10:30 a.m. from the corner of Hope and Chestnut streets.

Led by two police officers on motorcycles, a small contingent of children and adults from the Bristol Youth Soccer Association, accompanied by a team of zig-zagging go carts, will pass the hat along the entire parade route before the real show arrives.

“We’re hoping people give as generously as they possibly can,” Ms. Squires said. Money collected along the route will pay for debts already incurred putting this parade together; anything more will go toward next year’s 225th anniversary parade, which organizers hope will be special.

A long, strange trip

Ms. Squires is near the end of a long journey, which began when she was named parade chairwoman in 2007. She organized the 2008 procession, then spent much of the past year organizing this parade. As the incoming Fourth of July Committee general chairwoman, she will hand off parade duties later this month, but she still has miles to travel this week.

There are countless last-minute details as she and her committee arrange not only who marches, but where they stay, where they practice, how they get transportation, where they eat lunch, etc., etc.

An example of the unexpected is a contingent of four Eastern European journalists asking her where to find cheap hotel rooms and a backyard barbecue to soak up the ambiance of the day. She found a friend willing to take them in for the afternoon.

“You never know where it’s coming from,” she said.

At 10:30 a.m. Saturday it no longer matters. Town crier Gerry MacNeill will step south onto Hope Street, followed closely by chief marshals Joseph Coelho Sr. and Joseph Coelho Jr., and the nation’s oldest parade will follow its familiar red, white and blue path. Rain or shine, the parade will march on.

A few hours later, Ms. Squires can collapse at home and relax. On Sunday she can start worrying about next year’s celebration.