Long before anyone now living had a say in Annandale’s affairs, city founders saw fit to organize a mid-summer celebration honoring the nation’s birth.
Annandale was still in the cradle of infancy itself, having been incorporated just one year before in 1888, and the regular Fourth of July celebration helped establish the town as a holiday destination from the beginning.
One hundred and twenty-five years later, the scope of the celebration has slipped the bounds of a single calendar day to embrace more than a week of activity.
"It’s interesting when you look back and see the ground you’ve covered," said Fourth of July planning committee chairman John Volden. "We’re looking back over a century here. The founding fathers of the city decided to have a celebration, and the following generations of the city have decided to sustain that through the years. It’s really neat to think about the fact that this was started 125 years ago, yet it still lives and breathes in the environment that we have today."
Plans, people in place
Volden said the final preparations have been made, and myriads of volunteers have turned out again to make sure all the gears of the celebration shift smoothly.
"There are a lot of moving parts to this operation, but what amazes me each year is the number of people that come together to make this event happen," said Volden. "There is a large part of the community that gets involved in order to make all of the events work and run so well year after year."
While he wasn’t sure exactly how many individuals are involved, Volden figured it takes 200 to 300 volunteer hours to run the Lions food station alone. Extrapolating that over the whole spectrum of the event led to an imprecise but impressive conclusion.
"It’s thousands of hours, and quite possibly – maybe probably – tens of thousands of hours," Volden said. "That’s a lot of different people in so many different capacities. It’s pretty overwhelming when you think about it."
Celebration overview
Here, at the edge of the celebration proper, a number of preliminary events are already in the rearview mirror.
Miss Annandale candidates were introduced at the ice cream social on Thursday, June 19. The Kick-off to the Fourth of July Gala was held Friday, June 27, and the candidate car wash and kiddie parade took place on Saturday, June 28.
Looking forward, the carnival arrives in town on Wednesday, July 2, and is scheduled to open at 4 p.m. KRWC Radio and its Traveling Road Show will provide entertainment in the park from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The celebration begins to crescendo on Thursday, July 3, with the carnival opening at noon, the high school jazz band playing on the park stage at 5:30 p.m., and the Annandale Community Band and Pleasant Lake boat parade following at about 7 p.m. Softball also begins in the park at 6:30 p.m., and the Annandale All-Night Grad Party committee will serve pie from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The Fourth itself opens with the 10 a.m. parade, followed by the carnival. The next Miss Annandale will be crowned at the 6 p.m. coronation, and spectators at the park will then be treated to an energetic show by the regionally-acclaimed band The Fabulous Armadillos, who will play from approximately 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A significant change regarding the fireworks display is that the show will be launched from a floating platform offshore rather than from the banks of the lake, meaning spectators can fill the park right down to the water’s edge. With a particularly large crowd expected given the Armadillos’ following, Volden said that change is vital.
"It’s not going to be dramatically different in terms of people viewing the fireworks from the traditional spots, but it’s going to really open up the park down by the lake, so not only the ball field itself but everything down by the lake will be available for people to sit and enjoy from the comfort of their blanket or chair," said Volden.
He credited Police Chief Jeff Herr with the idea of launching from offshore, and public works director Joe Haller with helping to make that idea a reality along with other city staff. The platform will be borrowed from the City of Buffalo.
Herr said the police department is well prepared to handle the busy week.
"We’ve done it for so many years that everything falls into place, so to speak," he said, adding that additional security will be on hand during the concert and for traffic control following the fireworks.
"People just need to have patience as they leave the fireworks with traffic. We want to keep everyone safe," he said. "Officers will be working traffic. We’re just looking for people to be patient as they’re coming into town or leaving town."
The softball tournament will resume on Saturday, July 5. Bingo will be played from noon to 4 p.m. in the pavilion and a pork chop dinner will be served from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The highlight of the day is Annandale’s Talent Superstar finals competition at 6 p.m. Both the talent show and the Armadillos’ concert will be moved to the high school auditorium if there is inclement weather.
The celebration concludes with a final chance to take carnival rides on Sunday, July 6, along with Bingo from noon to 4 p.m. and more softball.
Parade
This year’s parade will feature 95 units and about 870 individual participants, barring last-minute changes. It will proceed along the usual route from the lineup location at the high school west on Highway 24 (Park Street), south on Main Street and east on Chestnut Street, ending at Poplar Avenue. Emcees Myron Morris and Jeremy Wheeler will again broadcast from the city hall parking lot.
Parade coordinator Dewey Gunnarson said the third year of the float contest and the Annandale Middle School band should be highlights of the event.
"I think the float contest is going to be more of a ramped up spectacle than it has been in the past, so I’m very interested to see what the contestants are going to be bringing," he said.
While St. Francis is the only visiting high school marching band, the Annandale high school drumline and middle school band will return.
"The Annandale Middle School band is going to be fantastic this year," said Gunnarson. "I’ve seen them, and it’s probably one of the best middle school bands that I’ve seen in a long time.
"Overall, it’s just going to be a good, solid parade as usual. I’m happy with all the units who are participating and the sponsors and volunteers."
Coronation details
Fans of the queen coronation will have to remember that the event is an hour earlier this year due to the Armadillos concert.
There are 10 contestants, which organizer Wendy Sylvester said was a pleasantly surprising number since recent years have generally featured only five or six candidates.
Opening up the event to high school juniors has helped bolster the numbers.
"It makes a lot of sense to include the juniors because graduating seniors are off to college for their first year and juniors are still here, so they’re much more accessible and available to participate in community events," said Sylvester.
This year’s candidates are Celeste Fuentes-Mattson, Michelle Garmon, Shanna Grambart, Calisha Norgren, Mariah Roehlke, Rebecca Segner, Cassy Stiller, Syvonna Trettel, Naomi Volden and Ashley Wadman.
Sylvester said the current royalty of Miss Annandale Kelly Mendel and princesses Lexi Athman and Cassie Rauschendorfer have been a strong team this year.
"They have been amazing representatives and we’re very proud of all the work that they’ve done within the community," she said. "We’re wishing good luck to Kelly at Aquatennial in a few weeks."