July 4th

What a great day it was! I had a blast. I managed to enjoy part of the day at the lake, and then headed back to Franklinton for the day’s events. Tammy, Kim, Kate, et al, had already packed everything up, and were ready to head to the athletic complex. I got there, and again, the dunk tank was off the field. (I’ve said it two years in a row now…the dunk tank has to be on the field, otherwise nobody comes over to use it!) We made about $100, which was cool. How’d we do it? Well…I spent three and a half hours being dunked like a fool…and I really appreciated the half hour break Harvey Satterwhite gave me. LOL Several people…mostly kids…came back three or four times with their $1 for 3 throws. One young man threw like he was in the major leagues. The baseballs flew into the tank a couple of times. A couple of folks spent about $10…and never dunked me. They got courtesy dunks, thanks to Anne Deal.

When I finally got out, and headed back to the URC booth to help Kim, Tammy & Kate…they were SLAMMED! Apparently, those glowing sticks, necklaces, yo-yos, and bouncy balls were quite the popular. We sold out of EVERYTHING we had. Next year, Tammy plans to order a bit more, I believe…

The American Legion did a wonderful job orchestrating the day. They had a very popular concession stand, and the entertainment was pretty good, too! (Commissioner Cutchins even got to sing ‘Franklinton.’ ) The brief video they showed prior to the fireworks was very well done – and the fireworks were great, too! I hate that we’re limited by the location we have to do it – but we don’t have any other location, so we’re tied to the athletic complex. But the fireworks we have are amazing, and even the hundreds of folks stopped along US 1 agreed! (That will be a bit better controlled next year.) The most wonderful part is that there has yet to be a skirmish, no scuffles, no issues….everyone just goes with the flow. And there were well over 2500 people there…and when you consider the 2000 census said we had 1745 citizens, and 2005 said 2409…we most ASSUREDLY had folks from outside of town come in! (Thus…tourism!!!)

I’d like to say thanks to all of the American Legion, the different groups and organizations who took part, and to everyone who came – you made it one wonderful event!