Edmond continues LibertyFest tradition

Courtney Crauthers
The Edmond Sun

EDMOND July 02, 2009 01:23 am

— The Fourth of July holiday is upon the city of Edmond and this Saturday’s LibertyFest activities will offer fun traditions for the whole family.

Morning of patriotism
Saturday kicks off at 9 a.m. with the LibertyFest Parade. Brothers Charles and Jerry James are this year’s co-chairmen. Charles James said they have about 105 parade entrants this year and expect at least 50,000 spectators for the 1.5-mile parade route, which will travel west on Ayers, south on Broadway, east on Second Street and lastly north on University Drive. The route will be closed to vehicles earlier in the morning.
The 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse, 124 E. Second St., will be open during the parade hours.
“We’ve got a few more military vehicles this year,” Charles James said. “We have mostly local people and local businesses.”
This year’s parade marshals will be the Paralympic team stationed at the University of Central Oklahoma.
“We chose them because they just got through with the Olympics and we wanted to highlight their accomplishments and they were tickled to death to do it,” Charles James said.
The brothers have co-chaired the event for more than 10 years, but have been involved with LibertyFest for 30 years.
“When I started I was standing at a barricade directing traffic,” Charles James said. “I would say it’s changed by the number of participants. More people take an interest in having trailers that are well decorated and lots of people on them.”
The parade and other LibertyFest activities help celebrate the nation’s birthday, while highlighting the state of Oklahoma, Charles James said.

Fun for the Kids
Following the parade, LibertyFest activities will take a slight break until the ParkFest begins at 5 p.m. in the University of Central Oklahoma parking lot north of the Business Building.
Pat Goodin, chairwoman of ParkFest, said this free event offers watermelon while supplies last, games for the children and music and entertainment provided by Ambiance, a local band. She said Earl’s Rib Palace will offer a meal for sale, consisting of a sandwich, chips and a drink. A snow cone stand, a smoothie vendor and a novelty vendor selling patriotic items also will be available.
“This year we’ll have more activities for the children,” Goodin said. “There will be more inflatables.”
These include the Mega Obstacle Course, the Treasure Island Bounce and the Jitterbug Swing ride. There also will be free tattoos and red, white and blue colored hair spray for the children, Goodin said.
The event will end at about 9:30 p.m.

Fireworks display best in state
Shortly after, the LibertyFest fireworks display will begin at 10 p.m. on UCO’s campus.
“It will be big,” said Bob Meinders, fireworks chairman. “It will probably last about 27 minutes. The show is just an awesome show. I do believe it is the largest in the state.”
He said the event brings more than 100,000 people to Edmond and can be seen within a half-mile radius of campus since there are no ground displays. Spectators should turn their radios to KCSC Radio FM 90.1 as the display is synchronized to music.
“The finale is over 3,000 shells shot off in less than a minute,” Meinders said. “That’s what people love.”
He said the fireworks display grew three years ago during the state’s Centennial celebration.
“We decided to put more into the fireworks and I’ve tried to maintain it since 2007,” Meinders said.
The Edmond Police Department will monitor and control the traffic lights surrounding the campus as so many people leave the area at once.
“That was something we added last year to dispense the crowds and it worked great and they actually are going to do more of it this year,” Meinders said.
Ice chests and pets will not be permitted at ParkFest or the fireworks display.

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