Great Falls residents had plenty of activities to choose from on the Fourth of July. The holiday kicked off with a 5K run that began at the Great Falls Freedom Memorial. There was no registration and no fee, and all residents were welcome to simply show up and participate.
“We continue to have more people participating in the walk/run in the morning which is actually run by the Ecumenical Council,” said Great Falls Friends member Julie Casso, one of the co-chairs of the Great Falls Friends Fourth of July events. “I think the weather brought more people out for the walk/run in the morning, and people always say it’s a great way, a nice, calm and peaceful way to start the Fourth of July, which for a lot of people, is a meaningful day.”
The 5K walk/run was followed by the annual Baby Parade in the Great Falls Village Center. Parents donned festive red, white and blue gear and pushed their children around the Village Center green. The Baby Parade was proceeded by the annual Hometown Celebration Fourth of July Parade, which featured various local organizations, local firefighters and police officers, local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and an impressive number of children on bicycles.
“Having the Fourth of July on a Wednesday this year, we found that there were a lot more Great Falls residents that attended,” said Casso. “And as we sold t-shirts, I heard a lot of people saying that ‘oh this is the first time in a long time that we’ve been here for the Fourth of July,’ so I think it really gave a lot more people the chance to participate which was nice.”
In the evening, the celebration moved to the Turner Farm Park grounds, where residents set up tents, chairs and picnic blankets and prepared to watch the fireworks display. As always, the fireworks were funded by Friends of the Great Falls Fireworks — an all-volunteer, community group committed to bringing a spectacular Fourth of July celebration to local residents every year. Although lightning and wet conditions kept most people away in the earlier part of the evening, most residents still came out to catch the fireworks display just after 9 p.m.
“It was sad because they had all of the activities up at Turner Farm that were scheduled to start at 6, so I suspect they lost some people for those because of the weather,” said Casso.