Emporia was full of Fourth of July activities Saturday with a parade, the Twin Rivers Festival, street dance and fireworks display.
People lined Commercial Street for the parade Saturday afternoon. The parade included 19 entries.
“It was great,” said Judy Edwards of Emporia. “For the amount of time they put into it, it was fantastic.”
The parade was a crowd pleaser for children and adults alike. Isayah Gutierrez of Emporia said he enjoyed the motorcycles. Alex Gutierrez of Emporia agreed when asked what she liked about the parade.
“I’m going to have to say the motorcycles,” she said, with a smile. “They do cool tricks.”
Parade and Twin Rivers Festival organizer Matt Slater said he was pleased with the turnout for the two events. He said he and some other people were just sitting around a few weeks ago and decided to organize the festival.
Around mid-afternoon, Slater said the festival was going well and all but two entries showed up for the parade.
Slater said the event is a good starting point for next year’s festival. He said he will help coordinate the festival, putting the emphasis on “help.”
“A lot of hours were spent to get this together this year,” he said.
Vendors’ booths were set up in the parking lot at Seventh Avenue and Merchant Street. People gathered there to buy merchandise, get food and just enjoy the day. Casey Woods, executive director of Emporia Main Street, said turnout for the event was good.
“The run and bike ride was fun this morning,” he said. “Everybody seemed to enjoy the parade.”
Woods said he was happy the Twin Rivers volunteers put on the event.
“It’s nice that we have something to do in Emporia on the Fourth,” he said. “We’re too big of a town to not have anything. With Twin Rivers and the fireworks that the city and county put on, it’s something unique that Emporia can (offer).”
Before the fireworks Saturday evening, people gathered in parking lots and outside churches near the Jones Aquatic Center, where the fireworks were shot off. Several cars pulled into Victory Fellowship parking lot on Americus Road, where parking was offered in exhange for donations for medical expenses for Mariah Serrano, who was seriously injured in a car accident May 29.
Jannie Stubbs, worship pastor at the church, said the family does not attend the church, but several people who do attend the church know the Serranos and they wanted to help them. People could park in the lot for $5 and concessions were available for $1.
kansastraveler (anonymous) says...
There needs to more consideration put into the location of the fireworks display. We drove around forever trying to find a place where the fireworks were visable, and could not find a parking place anywhere. We did note that many people who live on the north side of town were able to sit in their yards and enjoy the festivities. Yet again, another sign of how Emporia continously caters to the people who live on the north side of town!
July 6, 2009 at 6 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pingeon (anonymous) says...
Why was the fireworks display moved away from the fairgrounds? I've wondered that for a while, but haven't seen any explanation on it.
July 6, 2009 at 7:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
I wanted to thank everyone involved in the 4th of July celebration this year. The fireworks were done especially well this year!! I for one liked the change of venue. I thought they were more visable this year due to being on the edge of town (less lights) and at a higher elevation. It seemed to go very smoothly and kudos to all the effort put out by law enforcement. Good job!!
July 6, 2009 at 7:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Emporia, Lyon County, State spent many tax dollars in wages to set up/pick up trash...etc to make this happen. Thanks to the govt. units and volunteers , well worth it!
July 6, 2009 at 7:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Blue_Dog (anonymous) says...
kansastraveler you obviously didn't come west of graphic arts every lot had parking available in them and trysa and pool parking was only 1/2 full.
The fireworks was moved from the fairgrounds because of liability issues. Required safe zones have been increased. Plus the amount of illegal fireworks being shot into the area made in unsafe for the fireworks setup crew.
July 6, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
esu42 (anonymous) says...
The fireworks were fantastic this year- I had a blast. So to speak.
July 7, 2009 at 12:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yev_kassem (anonymous) says...
Thank you to those of you that helped put the festivities on. They were all great.
To the whiner(s) about the location of the fireworks, boo hoo. Emporia is not that big of a town and there are only so many places to have the display.
I am sick and tired of hearing people complain about the NW end of town. The city is moving there, whether you like it or not. Why?? Becasue, it is easier to move that direction due to the lack of river and the proximity of the interstate and turnpike junction.
Name a location and reason that would make someone who is planning the display to choose the SE side over the NW side.
July 7, 2009 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Nice show, thanks to the crew who put it together. There were plenty of parking spots around from what I saw. Where we sat(with permission) there were uninvited guests who joined us which was fine. That is until they decided to break out the booze, turn up their music and shoot off fireworks. They were asked to put away their drinks and fireworks because they were both illegal on the property we were on, but told them they were more than welcome to stay and watch the big display. They left, obviously having no desire to watch the big fireworks without breaking the law at the same time.
Sorry kansastraveler, but your last sentence makes you sound Jackson or Sharpton, poor poor me.
July 7, 2009 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
My family and I enjoyed the fireworks display and though we were parked farther away, found parking easier. We were positioned a bit too low behind a tree to see the lower fireworks, but that can be remedied next year. The distance muffled the sound, which I liked. Thanks to Bernie Toso for contributing greatly to our day with some of his deliciously smoked pork and brisket plus his fabulous barbeque sauce for our lunch, topped off by his fireworks operation to end the night.
I was wondering, however, if next year they could be shot off from the ESU practice football field to be enjoyed with the Twin Rivers street dance? That may be too low of land for visibility, but I am curious.
July 7, 2009 at 11:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I had suggested ESU as a possible site in future shows due to the ample parking while school is out. The fireworks could be set off North of the Interstate, North of the old baseball field and soccer practice fields. People could park at Trusler, or on ESU's lots. Plenty of open spaces for lawn chairs, plenty of parking.
July 8, 2009 at 6:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )