Published June 23, 2008 12:01 am - Music, movies, a parade and fireworks are just a few of the highlights of this year's 14th annual Union County Fourth of July Celebration.
A big thank you to veterans
Union County celebration has parade, fireworks, concerts
By Gina Morton
The Daily Item
LEWISBURG -- Music, movies, a parade and fireworks are just a few of the highlights of this year's 14th annual Union County Fourth of July Celebration.
Attorney Graham C. Showalter, chairman of the event since the beginning, said it has come a long way since its inception in 1994.
"The first year (for the parade), we only had the Lewisburg Area High School band," he said, "and it only lasted a half hour."
The parade has grown a great deal since then, lasting an estimated hour and a half with five high school bands participating this year.
The parade also will include re-enactors representing the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish/American War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Iraq War and Afghanistan War.
"It's impressive when you see one right after another," Showalter said. "You don't need words. It's just a visual reminder of what they did for our country."
The parade, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, will start at Lewisburg Area High School, go down Market Street to Third Street, go south on Third to the president's house at Bucknell University and across the park.
"I think everybody loves a parade," he said. "Everybody wants to do what they can to honor our vets, and we promise to give people of Central Pennsylvania one of the finest parades they've seen in a lifetime."
He said people may want to bring lawn chairs to the parade.
Following the parade will be a half-hour service to honor veterans and then about three hours of music, Showalter said.
The festivities kick off at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with the 10th annual Stars, Stripes and Sousa band performance in Hufnagle Park.
On Thursday, there will be a special showing of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" at 6 p.m. in the Campus Theatre with an admission price of $1. Hot dogs, apple pie and lemonade will be served.
On Friday, a concert by Big Band Nostalgia will be held at 7 p.m. in Wolfe Field, followed by fireworks at 9.
"It's like a gift," Showalter said, "to the community, vets, heritage -- to give something back for what others gave us. ... We can never thank our vets enough for what they did for our country."