Jump into summer with Fourth of July festivities
Independence Day celebrations are planned at two sites in Patrick County, Vesta Community Center and DeHart Park in Stuart.
The annual Vesta Fourth of July Celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with an opening ceremony by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard, and will last until about 4 p.m.
Vesta Community Center is located on Community Drive between Vesta Supply and the Vesta Post Office, off Rt. 58, four miles east of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The festival will feature a bluegrass and old-time music competition in the categories of banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, band, vocals and flatfooting.
There will be three levels of competition, for children, teens and adults. In the individual categories, the prize for first place will be $15, second place, $10, and third place, $5. Prizes for bands will be $50 for first place, $30 for second place, and $20 for third place.
The festival will also include games for children, a horseshoe tournament, dunking booth, and a quilt show and quilt raffle by the Mountaintop Quilters.
Food will be available, including hot dogs, barbecue, homemade lemonade, soft drinks and desserts.
Everyone is invited to bring a lawn chair and enjoy the old-fashioned entertainment.
The DeHart Park July Fourth Celebration will begin on Friday, July 3, with a $3 pool party from 7 to 9 p.m. The festivities will continue on July 4 with a car show, vendors, and swimming.
Registration for the car show will be held from 8 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. with a fee of $17 per car. The first 100 entries will receive goodie bags, awards will be presented at 3 p.m.
Fifty-fifty raffle tickets will be sold with the winner announced at 2:30 p.m.
The pool will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and pool passes will not be honored. The admission fee for the pool is $5 per person.
Fun activities for the entire family will be offered: water balloon toss at noon; penny/nickel dive at 1 p.m.; egg toss at 2 p.m.; three-legged race at 3 p.m.; and big splash at 4 p.m.
At 7 p.m. the pool will reopen for a $3 pool party until 9 p.m.
The day will end with fireworks at 10 p.m.
DeHart Park is located on Johnson Street off the Rt. 58 Stuart Bypass.