Groveport Messenger - June 27th, 2021

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June 13, 2021 - GROVEPORT MESSENGER - PAGE 7
Happy Birthday America
Groveport celebrates the Fourth with parade and fireworks
By Rick Palsgrove
Groveport Editor
The city of Groveport will celebrate the
Fourth of July this year after last year’s
event was cancelled due to the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic.
The celebration will feature a parade,
music, and fireworks, on July 3.
“It is important to hold the event this
year to give the community a traditional
Independence Day celebration,” said
Groveport City Administrator B.J. King.
“It has been a long 15 months and things
are progressing towards normalcy. We are
all wanting to get back to doing our normal
activities and way of life. Other central
Ohio communities also plan to have
Independence Day celebrations so we are
not the stand alone. I feel like what we plan
can be done in a safe manner.”
The parade will start at 11 a.m. on July
3. Staging for the parade will be at the
Groveport Recreation Center. The parade
will start at Richardson Road and travel
west on Main Street, then turn right onto
Hendron Road and end at Glendening
Elementary.
Mayor Lance Westcamp announced this
year’s parade will be lead by six grand marshals
representing long-time local businesses.
“The COVID pandemic was hard on
small businesses,” said Westcamp. “We
wanted to recognize and honor some of our
long-time Groveport businesses who are
such a big part of our community and who
survived the pandemic.”
The six businesses who will serve as
parade grand marshals are: Birch Tavern,
Little Italy, Norm’s Market, Groveport
Dairy Queen, Ginger’s Little Lamb, and
the Flower Boutique/Zarbaugh’s
Barbershop.
The fireworks will be launched at dusk
on July 3 from Palm Pond in Heritage Park
on Wirt Road. Tune into radio frequency
88.3 to hear background music during the
fireworks.
Musical entertainment on July 3 begins
in the parking lot along Wirt Road with the
Sirens from 7:30 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. and
McGuffey Lane will perform from 8:30 p.m.
until 9:40 p.m.
Food vendors will include: Bubbas Ice;
Queens Table — fish and chips; and Holler
Dogs LLC — hot dogs, fries, onion rings,
corn dogs, burgers,and deep fried cheesecake.
One difference this year is that there
will be no kids games and activities.
No animals are permitted in the event
areas at any time during the Fourth of July
celebration.
“Fourth of July will be our first large
event open to the public (since the pandemic)
in the city of Groveport,” said
Kristiauna Trelay, community affairs
department administrative assistant.
“There’s something to be said about enjoying
outdoors, the fresh air, food trucks, and
simply being around people again that’s
just so refreshing. What better way to
return to some normalcy and traditions
like the celebration of Independence Day!”
Children’s parade
The children’s parade will be held on
June 29 at 6 p.m.. The children’s parade
will begin at Middle School Central, 751
Main St., then proceed west on Main Street
to Crooked Alley, south to Wirt Road, east
along Wirt Road back to 751 Main St..
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Schedule of Events
Saturday, July 3