The Edgartown Fourth of July parade will take place next Thursday on Independence Day.

Some things never change: the Edgartown selectmen always serve as judges, Camp Jabberwocky always steals the show, it always starts exactly at 5 p.m.; and World War II hero and Edgartown father Ted Morgan always marches in front, leading a procession that makes Edgartown’s white-shingled whaling homes feel like the center of the Fourth of July universe.

This year Mr. Morgan, who died this spring at age 97, will be missing.

But parade grand marshal Joseph E. Sollitto Jr. told selectmen Monday that he has taken steps to ensure Mr. Morgan will be present in spirit, even if he can no longer by physically present.

“It’s going to be a little different this year without the colonel leading the parade,” Mr. Sollitto said. “But I’ve spoken [to his family], and the American Legion, and we are going to have his son and grandson march at the front of the parade with us.”

Mr. Sollitto also said that he was in discussion with the American Legion about having Mr. Morgan’s uniform in the golf cart at the front of the procession. Otherwise, plans for the parade remain the same as they’ve been for generations, according to Mr. Sollitto, who received a unanimous vote from the selectmen for them to both host and judge the event. He said the Vineyard Haven band was primed for the march, and that there would be brief pauses outside the courthouse and the Harbor View Hotel to allow time to narrow gaps between the floats.

“We will be ready when the clock strikes five,” Mr. Sollitto said. “That’s Ted’s rule. Not one minute late.”

The parade starts at the Edgartown School before winding through Main and North Water streets in town.

In other business Monday, town administrator James Hagerty said the locked Edgartown harbor gas pump at North Wharf is undergoing repairs. He said employees of Ralph Packer had been working to make repairs since late last week.

The state DEP locked the pumps last month due to noncompliance with environmental regulations.

“I went to North Wharf, they have crews on site,” Mr. Hagerty said. “So hopefully that issue will get resolved quickly.”

“I think having it in the paper put a little spark,” selectman Margaret Serpa added, referring to a story that ran in the Gazette last week.

Selectmen also approved a bus route for All Star Tours to drive through Edgartown on Upper Main street, Beach Road, the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road. Resident Sue Bennett expressed concern that the roads were already too congested.

“I just feel as though there are too many tour companies now as it is,” she said.

Despite the concerns, Edgartown selectmen unanimously approved the tour route.