Moapa Valley will be putting on its annual Independence Day celebration in the usual grand manner at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Wednesday, July 4.
This year the theme for the festivities will be “America Strong!” a theme that was suggested by the members of the Moapa Valley Rotary Club.
“It is all about volunteering in our community to make America strong,” said 4th of July committee coordinator Lori Houston. “During the event there will be information available for volunteering opportunities in the community.”
Throughout the festivities the official 2018 July 4th Celebration t-shirts will be on sale. The logo for this year’s shirts was created by Xtreme Stitch in downtown Overton. Xtreme Stitch also printed the shirts and donated a portion of the cost so that the t-shirt sales could be a fundraiser to help pay costs of the free event.
The morning of the 4th of July will start out with the Flag Raising at 7:00 am at the central flagpole near the fairgrounds entrance. The VFW Post 8336 and the American Legion Post 75, along with the local Boy Scout Troops will lead the Flag ceremony. All area Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts – and their leaders – are encouraged to arrive by 6:45 am and participate in full uniform.
As part of this year’s flagraising ceremony, local youth Iaian McMurray will be reading his patriotic essay. McMurray’s writing won first place in the VFW Patriots Pen competition.
Immediately after the flagraising ceremony, the fun begins, starting with breakfast.
The Rotary Club members will pull out their trailer kitchen and prepare a great pancake breakfast, usually for a large group of people. Every year they feed approximately 500 people breakfast at no charge. A portion of the food is donated by local businesses and vendors, but most of the breakfast is paid for by the Rotary Club.
The kids are always excited for breakfast to be over so they can start playing. At 9:00 am the Children’s Patriot Parade begins. Kids can decorate their bikes, tricycles, wagons or just themselves in patriotic colors. They then march in a parade around the fairgrounds. Decorations are provided by Karen Alsum Insurance Agency and Cals Repair Center.
The Parks and Rec takes over from there at about 9:30. A variety of games and activities are offered to youngsters. A watermelon eating contest will take place at 10:15 am. The Firefighters’ Water Fight will begin at around 10:30 am.
The festivities then take a break during the heat of the afternoon hours.
Later on in the day, a flag retreat ceremony will be held by local veterans organizations beginning at 5:30 pm.
The Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce then provides a free BBQ dinner for the community which begins at 5:45 pm. This year the Chamber has teamed up with Overton Simplot Silica in purchasing the meat for the meal. Local barbecue guru, Rik Eide, of Great Basin Cooking Company, will cook it up to perfection for the pulled pork feast. Logandale resident Scott Carson and his family will be serving up shave ice treats as a cool dessert for the summer holiday.
While the dinner is going on, there will be live music featuring local entertainers on the outdoor stage. This lineup of acts will be coordinated by Overton resident Rick Houston.
The pre-firework program begins at 8:30 pm. Special awards will be presented and there will be a tribute to local military families.
The National Anthem is scheduled to be performed at 8:45 p.m. This year it will be sung by McKenzie Huff.
Immediately following that, the fireworks display begins! The fireworks are paid for through local fundraising efforts. A large part will be donated by a number of generous Moapa Valley businesses.
For a full schedule of this year’s July 4th festivities go to the top of page A2 in this edition.
