Meet Your 2026 Parade Marshals: Elett Ricks-Chambers & Jeff Dominguez

The Pocket Greenhaven Community Association is proud to announce the two community leaders who will lead the 2026 Pocket Greenhaven July 4th Parade: Grand Marshal Elett Ricks-Chambers and Founding Marshal Jeff Dominguez. Together they represent the heart of what this parade has always been about — service, neighborliness, and a deep love for this community.

Grand Marshal: Elett Ricks-Chambers

A native of Buffalo, New York, Elett Ricks-Chambers is a music educator and a product of city schools where the arts played a critical role in the education of every child. She received her Bachelor's of Music Education from Howard University and has been teaching music for over 50 years.

Ms. Chambers has been making a difference in the Pocket Greenhaven community for over 47 years. She impacted young lives as a Music Specialist in the Sacramento City Unified School District for 39 years, all of which included Didion Elementary. She was also selected as a mentor for other music teachers in SCUSD. Although the gifted musician retired in 2019, thanks to the generosity of the Didion PTA she continues to direct Fall and Winter Concert Performances, teach general music for grades TK–6, and volunteer at the school. She is a beloved educator because of her grace, passion, high expectations, and genuine love for students, families, and the community.

She is a woman of faith, a mother, a Nana, and a member of Saint Paul Church of Sacramento who believes, "To whom much is given, much is required." An avid sports fan and a big supporter of youth sports in the Pocket Greenhaven community, she has been an encouraging and motivational presence on the sidelines and in the bleachers for decades. You can hear her encouraging cheers, bracelets, and rhythmic clapping at the soccer, baseball, and basketball games of her grandchildren, other relatives, and present and former students. The "Nana" of eleven is always on the go and enjoying time with her grandchildren, who are the joy and light of her life.

As Ms. Chambers reflects on the honor of serving as Grand Marshal for the Pocket Greenhaven Parade, her love for all of humanity, and the 250th celebration of our country, a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to mind:

"Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

Founding Marshal: Jeff Dominguez

The neighbor who turned a childhood memory into a Pocket tradition

Nearly three decades ago, Jeff Dominguez set out to give his Pocket neighborhood the kind of Fourth of July he had loved as a kid. That idea grew into the parade the community celebrates today.

Dominguez was raised by his grandparents in the Delta town of Clarksburg, walking to Clarksburg Elementary and spending his summers picking pears. He played on a Delta High School football squad of 27 farm kids that put together back-to-back undefeated seasons — a roster that eventually sent four players to the NFL. Those friendships never faded. "To this day, we remain close friends. All of us are tied together by the river and agriculture," he says.

What stayed with him most were the hometown Fourth of July parades the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department staged each year: children on decorated bikes, skateboards and go-carts; ranchers rolling by on dressed-up tractors, combines and hot rods; Boy Scout Troop 83 and the Delta High marching band turning out every summer. An antique fire engine led the way while riders tossed candy to the crowd, and once the last entry passed, the firefighters handed out popsicles.

When he settled in Pocket, Dominguez wanted his new community to have something of its own. He took the idea to then-Councilmember Robbie Waters, and by 1997 the first plans were underway — soon expanding past the parade to a carnival and a fireworks show. Covering those costs meant rallying the whole neighborhood. Crab feeds, barbecues, spaghetti dinners, T-shirt sales and local sponsorships paid the bills and, just as importantly, knit people together. The effort raised so much that the leftover funds launched a December Holiday Basket program, delivering food and gifts to more than 50 families.

The first parade drew about 200 people and a single decorated vehicle. In recent years it has swelled to nearly 1,000 participants and 100 vehicles. (The fireworks, first launched in 1998, were retired after roughly five years once the traffic and crowds grew tough to manage.)

Today, Dominguez is facing serious health challenges, including cancer and kidney dialysis — and his outlook hasn't dimmed. "I'm grateful for my medical team and my wife Joy. With each passing day, I don't lose hope. I fight to have more days," he says.

As a small measure of the neighborhood's gratitude, the Pocket Greenhaven Community Association is proud to name Jeff Dominguez our 2026 Founding Marshal, honoring the resident whose vision became one of Sacramento's most cherished traditions.

Jeff Dominguez's story was first reported by Corky Mau in "Fourth Force," Inside Sacramento, July 2025.

Join Us on the Fourth

The 2026 Pocket Greenhaven July 4th Parade steps off at 10:00 AM at Windbridge and South Land Park drives. The route runs south on Windbridge, turns right onto Pocket Road, and ends at Garcia Bend Park. Come line the route and help us celebrate Elett Ricks-Chambers, Jeff Dominguez, and the community they have given so much to.

Unity in Our Community