Celebrate locally this 4th
Community members and visitors alike are encouraged to celebrate the 4th of July holiday locally in Humboldt and Dakota City.
Activities begin on Saturday, July 2, with the Humboldt Farmer’s Market at Bicknell Park from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come check out the selection of fresh produce and local merchandise.
Harness races will be going on at the Humboldt County Fair-grounds track on both Sunday and Monday, July 3 and 4, be-ginning at 12:30 p.m. See some of the top trotting and pacing horses from around country compete for cash prizes. The VFW Post in Dakota City will be serving food at the grandstand both days from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. before and during the races.
On Monday, July 4, activities start with the Run White and Blue 10k and 5k walk and run, beginning at 8 a.m. on Sumner Avenue. All proceeds from the event go toward sending local veterans on the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Same day registration will be at 7:30 a.m. on Sumner Avenue, outside of Bank Iowa.
Also beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing until noon is the Iowa Bible Reading Marathon. Celebrated across the 99 counties of Iowa, listen as the word of God is read aloud. The nondenominational event will be held on the front courthouse lawn. People may bring lawn chairs and relax in the shade.
The annual 4th of July Parade will kickoff at 7 p.m. The parade will begin at Taft Street and 1st Avenue North and will travel west one block to 8th Street North and south on 8th to Sumner Avenue. The parade will move east through downtown and turn north on 4th Street North, continuing to 4th Avenue North. The parade will travel west along the north side of Taft Park with the parade concluding on Taft Street North.
The parade grand marshal will be former Humboldt County Veterans Affairs Administrator Craig Malloy. Malloy is a director of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.
People with parade entries are asked to submit by email at: humboldtiowaparade@gmail.com or call Cody Lawman at (515) 351-1559, or Doug Vinsand at (515) 954-0449. A group of community members are once again organizing this year’s parade.
Annually one of the best fire-works displays in the state, the 4th of July fireworks show will be on the infield of the Humboldt County Fairgrounds, beginning at 10 p.m.
“The city of Humboldt gave us some of the hotel/motel tax funds and we received a little more in donations, so this year’s show will be a little larger than last year’s,” fireworks crew chief Russ Seiler said. Seiler and a team of about 12 volunteers safely plant and launch the fireworks shells.
Seiler said $16,000 was spent for this year’s display, a few thousand dollars more than last year. The price of shells also went up, he said.
J&M Displays in Yarmouth is the company the city goes through for purchasing the outdoor fireworks.
Seiler’s crew will come in Sunday after the harness races and plant the tubes for the shells and will come back Monday afternoon after the harness races and get the pyrotechnics sorted and ready for launching.
Safety is a high priority and is as important as the other aspects of the show. Seiler is a longtime Humboldt firefighter and he and his crew wear fire protection gear and adhere to the National Fire Protection Association standards and ATF regulations in launching the display.
“The fair board has been generous in allowing us to use the infield at the fairgrounds and the community has been very supportive of the show over the years,” Seiler said.
During the parade, the Humboldt Fire Department will be asking citizens to be generous in filling the boot for donations to the annual 4th of July fireworks display. Donations given by parade watchers help ensure another great fireworks show next year.
The fireworks will begin about 10 p.m. on Monday, July 4, with a rain date of Tuesday, July 5. “Those are the only evenings we have permission to have the display,” Seiler said.
Members of the public are reminded that no consumer fireworks may be discharged on the fairgrounds or within 500 feet of the fairgrounds.