Charles City celebrates a star-spangled 4th

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The first half of a four-day Fourth of July celebration got off to a good start this week in Charles City in spite of rain putting the dampener on some of the plans.

Stormy weather has plagued party planners this year, but the sun was shining and the skies were clear on Wednesday, July 3, as the holiday schedule started with Soifer Family McDonald’s hosting Kids Day activities in Central Park.

Along with rolling around in the annual kids parade, Charles City children got to enjoy a morning of inflatables, games, and even a scientific stage show as Professor Toto performed some Absolute Science.

The party continued into the afternoon as food trucks arrived, the farmers market set up their stands for shopping, and kids played in a youth sand volleyball tournament.

Later in the evening, five brave souls pushed the limits of their stomachs for a hot dog eating contest where Markus Jepperson, Zeke Zweibohmer, Reiona Zweibohmer, and Lerona Lattimore challenged returning champion Scott Galliart for his title.

Racing to eat the most hot dogs in 10 minutes, the challengers made a valiant effort, but couldn’t overcome Galliart, who broke his own personal record with 14 hot dogs eaten and immediately felt both satisfaction and regret.

“Wet bread is the worst thing you can put in your mouth,” said Galliart.

Finishing out the evening, Sheltered Reality filled the park with the sounds of percussion with a steel drum performance.

On Thursday, July 4, activities began bright and early with the Firecracker 5K at the Charles City High School while downtown set up for a day of entertainment.

Lawn chairs and blankets lined up along Main Street and Jackson Street as people waited in anticipation of the Independence Day Parade.

This year’s parade has faced no shortage of uncertainties. The ongoing reconstruction of Main Street forced planners to come up with several alternatives to the traditional parade route before settling on a final path. Meanwhile, a forecast of scattered showers threatened to literally rain on the parade.

In spite of everything, while some light sprinkles started to fall promptly as the parade started at 11 a.m., the parade successfully made it around downtown to the enjoyment of a packed audience. First responders, local businesses, community organizations, and more waved, tossed candy, and played music for the crowd.

This year’s winners for the best floats were First Citizens Bank’s pirate themed parade for Best Business Entry; Charles City Softball for Best Organization/Non-Profit Group Entry; musical group Love Radishes for Best Open Class; Winnebago Industries for bringing the Best Antique Vehicle; Maria’s Tacos tropical vacation was named Mayor’s Choice; and Cambrex’s star-spangled rocket won the Chamber’s Choice award.

By the time the parade ended the sun was shining and a big crowd gathered in the park to enjoy food vendors, activities, and live music by Bad Dog 20/20.

Hy-Vee brought out boxes of watermelon as three age groups of contestants put their mouths to the test with a hands-free watermelon-eating contest.

Drake O’Brien and Joshua were the winners of the kids Watermelon Eating Contest, Julian Gonzalez and Isaac Japp were the winners of the youth Watermelon Eating Contest, and Brian Tretton and Peter Rodriguez were the adult winners for the Independence Day Watermelon Eating Contest.

Meanwhile, a sand volleyball tournament set up across the street for an afternoon of serves and spikes.

“The day went great,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “Considering the weather concerns we had going into it, we got almost everything in.”

Sadly, the sun didn’t shine for the whole day.

As the afternoon wore on, threat of severe weather developed, moving the Municipal Band’s annual patriotic music concert indoors to Trinity Methodist Church. It was the band’s last performance of the season.

The forecast also forces the postponement of the Fourth of July fireworks show to Friday. A brief but very heavy downpour occurred earlier in the evening Thursday.

“You really don’t want a lot of explosives setting out in a storm,” said Wicks.

Thursday’s festivities ended with the sounds of thunder instead of the sounds of fireworks, but, weather willing, the fun will continue into the weekend.

On Friday, Party in the Park will start at 5 p.m., with more food vendors and live music from Mike Bernard & the Midwest Made. Wicks noted that for this specific Party in the Park event, vendors will be accepting cash rather that the typical tokens that have been used in the past.

After the party, the postponed fireworks are scheduled to start at 10 p.m., fired off from the Main Street bridge.

Friday night won’t be the end of the fun though.

On Saturday, July 6, there will be even more to do, starting with the Charles City Bicycle Ride at 7:30 a.m. at First Security Bank & Trust.

Food vendors will be back at Central Park in the afternoon, with plans for a magician show at 4 p.m. and a cornhole tournament starting at 5 p.m. along with live music from BPM.

In the meantime, in the wake of other weather-related event postponements this year, Wicks said he is happy to see that the first two days of the Independence Day events have mostly gone off without a hitch and he is thankful for the volunteers who have dedicated their time and energy into putting on something fun for the community, while dealing with ever-adjusting plans.

“A lot of volunteer effort was put in today behind the scenes to make it happen,” said Wicks. “People have been incredibly understanding.”

PARADE WINNERS:

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE CHARLES CITY JULY 3 & 4 EVENTS, AND THE JULY 4 PARADE: