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Local July 4 activities planned |
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Written by Staff Reports
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Friday, 03 July 2009 |
Sweetwater
Sweetwater will once again host Liberty Fest, the community’s annual Independence Day celebration. It will be held Saturday, July 4, starting at 10 a.m. in the Newman Park area.
A variety of activities are planned, and things will start off with vendor booths that will pen at 10 a.m. inside Newman Park.
There will also be a number of activities geared for kids. A jump castle will be set up from 1-7 p.m. in the park. There will also be free swimming for everyone at the city pool during that time. Dr. Larry and Lita McEachern will provide lunch for all the swimmers.
The annual parade will start at 7:45 p.m. north of the Nolan County Courthouse. The parade distance is less than two miles this year. The parade will not enter Newman Park. It will continue on 419 past the ballpark parking area and disband at the intersections of 419, 17th Street and Crane. Those participating in the parade should line up at 7:15 p.m. in the north parking lot of the courthouse.
Then there is the main attraction – the fireworks. They will begin at dusk.
No one will be allowed to bring fireworks or firecrackers to the park since setting off fireworks is illegal inside the City Limits, except for the organized show. The Sweetwater Police will be patrolling the park and will be enforcing that ordinance. Any individual caught setting off fireworks in the park will be issued a citation and fined.
In addition, there will be no parking available in front of the Nolan County Coliseum this year. This will allow more people to enjoy the fireworks inside the park.
Also Rattlesnake Speedway will have their first Firecracker Shootout Saturday, July 4, at the Sheriff Posse Arena. Races begin at 6 p.m. There will be six different kart classes. There will be karts coming from Lubbock, Seymour and North Texas areas. For more information, contact Kelly Andrus at 236-8838. Volunteers are needed for the event.
Roscoe
Roscoe residents have not enjoyed a fireworks show in their hometown for close to 30 years. This year that streak will come to an end due the efforts of a committee of Roscoe individuals, community leaders and business owners.
City Administrator Cody Thompson, and one of the organizers for the July 4th celebration in Roscoe, said the fireworks show should be a good one. He said they would be shot off from north of the railroad tracks directly north of town. A great place to view them, if you are enjoying the live entertainment on Cypress Street across from City Hall, is to stay there and simply turn and look north around 9:30 p.m. when the fireworks show should start.
Parts of Broadway and Cypress will be shut down on Saturday, July 4, to accommodate the activities planned throughout the day. Activities will be centered around the downtown area on Cypress across from City Hall, along Broadway and around the community center. Starting at 10 a.m., Roscoe will host its annual July 4th parade. The route will be on Broadway starting at Cedar St. and will continue to the ballpark where there will be a baseball tournament the rest of the morning.
Vendor booths will also open at 10. Those booths will include crafts and other items for sale, as well as food booths. These booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Also open at that time will be the Roscoe Historical Museum, located on the corner of Cypress and Broadway. There will be free admittance all day.
In addition, kids’ activities will be open at that time, including bounce houses and rock climbing, all free of charge. The City Pool will offer swimming free of charge from 1-5 p.m., which is located near the City Park.
If you want to stay out of the heat, there are plans to host a Bingo game as well.
The Roscoe FFA and Volunteer Fire Department will be cooking and selling food around the community center, including barbecue.
There will be a variety of sites and displays on the downtown streets of Roscoe as well. The Roscoe Wind Council has indicated they will have a display on July 4th, and Stanley Ford and Chevrolet of Sweetwater are expected to have vehicles out for viewing.
Live entertainment will also be part of the activities from 1:30 p.m. on Cypress Street across from City Hall until the fireworks begin. The first band to perform will be Roscoe’s own, Purple Spirit, with the original band members, Les Huff, Gordon Miles, Ronald Dorman and Kenny Zimmerman. At 3 p.m. the Chase Scott Band will take the stage. This Sweetwater band is made up of Shelby Scott, Chase Scott, “Ms. B,” Mickey Scott, Mickey O’Briant, and Kenneth Terry. According to the band’s MySpace website, they play covers from the classic rock eras of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s and also play a few current songs and original material. At 5 p.m. the Moody Crawford Band of Abilene will perform. This band hales from the Abilene area and includes members, Scot Williams, Marty Baker, David Wimprine and Juan Martinez. According to their MySpace, they have played with top artists such as Kenny Chesney, Neil McCoy, Miranda Lambert, and Kevin Fowler, as well as classic artists like Ray Price and Don Williams.
The Hogg Maulies, a well-known Texas country band based in Lubbock, will start their show at 7. This group has recorded a few albums, including “Here to Stay” and a live album live from Lubbock’s Blue Light. The original band members, Rode Morrow, Bradey Murphree and David Mullins, grew up in West Texas and started playing in 2001 in a crop-duster hanger with two microphones, two guitars and one amplifier, according to mytexasmusic.com. While attending Texas Tech University they met up with their now lead guitar player, Jerod Foster, from Paradise, Texas, who brings influences from the 1960s and 70s.
Since then fiddle player, Preston Wait from El Campo, Colo. and bass player, Parker Morrow from Sweetwater, have been added to the group. The two are performance students at South Plains College and Wait has performed alongside Texas Country act Cooder Graw.
You can find out more about this band, including its touring schedule on their website, hoggmaulies.com.
For more information on the July 4th celebration and to reserve a space for a booth, contact City Hall at 766-3871. Organizers say there is still space available to rent for a booth. There is no charge for non–profit groups like school groups or churches.
Blackwell
The Blackwell Volunteer Fire Department will have their annual barbecue beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday July 4, 2009, at the Blackwell Fire Station. The meal includes brisket, sausage and all of the trimmings. The parade will start at 5 p.m. For more information, contact Karen Walls at 282-3037. |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 July 2009 )
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