By CHARLENE PAUL
Moapa Valley Progress
The Fourth of July celebration begins early in Moapa Valley, beginning at 7 a.m. The flag raising ceremony, breakfast and a full morning of family-friendly activities make it an event that brings family and friends together to celebrate the United States of America’s independence.
Although there is no official proclamation for who came the greatest distance to be here, Rotarian Dennis Anderson and his wife Linda drove from their summer home in Salt Lake City just to be here to help prepare and serve the community breakfast provided to the whole community by the Moapa Valley Rotary Club.
In fact, there were several Rotarians that travelled far to help out this year. Bob Schultz, the oldest member of the Moapa Rotary Club drove from Hawthorne, Nevada with his wife Jan. They were both on site to help, with Jan mixing up pancake batter throughout the morning, and Bob giving plenty of sage advice to younger club members.
The mid-morning temperatures hovered around 97 degrees with no wind. The skies were blue and clear.
Members from VFW Post #9336, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts started the day’s festivities with a flag-raising ceremony before a large crowd assembled on the lawn of the fairgrounds. After the colors were presented, those in attendance recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang The Star-Spangled Banner.
Logandale youth Iaian McMurray then came to the podiumto deliver his essay entitled “Why I Honor the American Flag.”
McMurray won first place in the VFW Post, District and State, and competed in the National final in the VFW Patriot’s Pencompetition. For his efforts, he was awarded a total of $2,500 in prize money.
After VFW Chaplain Larry Griffiths offered the prayer and blessed the breakfast meal, Loraine O’Dell applauded our veterans saying, “We love America. We love our military, and we are grateful for them all. And may God bless them all. Enjoy your breakfast.”
The Rotary breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs and pancakes was served by volunteers. Bob Schultz took the official count, and reported a total of 505 people who had breakfast.
After breakfast, attendees moved outside for the annual Candy Grab. Clark County Parks and Rec staff provided the candy and the kids quickly scooped up the sweet treats from the grass.
Brent Thompson of Altitude Adjustments provided Neptune’s Pearls, a climbing wall and bungee jumping to keep the kids busy through the morning.
The Young Patriot’s Parade, sponsored by Cal’s Repair and Karen Alsum of Farmers Insurance, began at the main gate to the fairgrounds. Kids could decorate their bikes, scooters, wagons and skate boards with red, white and blue frills, all provided by the sponsors. Hundreds of children marched through the fairgrounds in a patriotic display.
Two of the fields at the fairground were carpeted with candy by Parks and Rec staff in preparation for the annual Kid’s Candy scramble. Children gathered along the edges of the fields, their mouths watering for candy. Then the word, “Go!” set them free on the lawn where the candy was cleaned up in no time.
This year, there was a new competitor to the watermelon eating contest. Human participants went against Boris the Pig in the the traditional contest. Young Boris was brought to the party by his owner, Janice Ridondo of Windy’s Rescue Ranch in Overton.
It was a tough competition between kids and pig. “Surprisingly, the kids won!” said John Stastny of the Parks and Rec department. “Boris seemed to be more into socializing (with the crowd) than eating.”
At 10 a.m., volunteer firefighters from the Moapa Valley Fire District sprayed water high into the air to the squeals of delight from the kids.
The activities then took a break during the heat of the day.
The fun continued in the evening. Veteran’s organizations met under the flagpole again at 6 pm sharp for a flag retreat ceremony.
This was followed by a community dinner of pulled pork sandwiches provided by members of the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce. Meat for the meal was provided by Simplot Silica and was prepared by Chamer board members. Simplot also provided bottled water. Buns for the sandwiches were donated by Overton McDonalds. Potato chips were provided by Sugar’s Home Plate. Milk was provided by Anderson Dairy. Bomb Pop popsicles were provided for dessert by Clea’s Moapa Valley Realty. Xtreme Stitch in Overton donated paper products and other supplies needed in preparing the meat. Chamber board members Vanette Christensen and Lois Hall provided macaroni salad.
Nearly 500 people were reportedly served at the free dinner.
After the meal, crowds began to gather out on the lawn in preparation for the fireworks display. While they waited, a community program with various local entertainers was coordinated and presented by Allstate Auto Glass.
Then came the moment that all had been waiting for. The national anthem was performed by Kali Romero, and then the fireworks extravaganza began. Pyrotechnics for the show were handled by Overton resident Elwin Brown and his fellow volunteers from the Moapa Valley Fire District.
