Poway ready to celebrate July 4th

By Emily Sorensen

The city of Poway is going all out for the Fourth of July, offering fun, fireworks and a ceremony honoring our country’s veterans.

A full day of festivities is being held at Old Poway Park’s “Old Fashioned Fourth of July,” 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Food, music, dancing and old-fashioned games will all be available to have a good, turn-of-the-century time.

The day will start off at 10 a.m. with the flag raising and national anthem, followed by a rifle salute by the Shadow River Regulators and an introduction by Poway’s deputy mayor Jim Cunningham. This year, the celebration will be a little different, as the Old Fashioned Fourth of July will have a master of ceremony, storyteller Charles Johnson.

There will be entertainment all day on the gazebo stage, featuring the Poway Dixiestrutters (Dixieland jazz), the Heritage Dancers (square dancing), Shawn Rohlf and The Buskers (lively folk music), The Wild Oats (a country western “character band”), the Poway Folk String Band (folk), and the Jackstraws (family-friendly folk theater). The entertainment will conclude with the Poway Community Band, a 75-piece local band.

A lineup of free, old-fashioned, family-friendly activities are also planned. Enjoy a three-legged race, a water relay race, a bubble gum pie contest, a wet n’ wild relay race, potato sack races or “The Great Heat Wave of Poway,” beginning at 10:30 a.m. and finishing at 3:45 p.m. Free children’s crafts and activities are also available. Your child can make festive fans, lanterns and parade wands to celebrate the holiday.

There will be a number of vendors and booths around the fountain and on the boardwalk, selling everything from arts and crafts to plants.

“We’re overfilled with vendors for this event,” said David Richards, recreation supervisor for the City of Poway. The Poway Arts & Crafts Guild will be holding their Craft Market on the boardwalk, selling old-fashioned crafts, artwork, and handmade goods. The Poway Valley Garden Club will be holding a plant sale around the fountain, where you can also get your caricature drawn, buy historic train art, learn about the American Legion, and visit and get a free photo with Uncle Sam.

In the park, the Frontier Army of the West will be holding cannon demonstrations and displaying a historic encampment. Bob Meyer will be playing patriotic organ grinder music, and the Palomar Model A Club will be displaying Model A cars.

There will gunslingers and outlaws wandering around, with the Shadow River Regulators and the Apache Canyon Gang holding gunfights and reenacting train robberies every other train ride around the park. In Templar’s Hall, the Friendship Quilters Guild will be having an antique quilt display, and Poway Station Model Railroad Club will be holding an N Scale Model Train Display in the Porter House.

The train will be running for a nominal fee, and Overshiners Blacksmith Shop will be holding blacksmithing and forging demonstrations. The Heritage Museum and the Nelson House will be displaying patriotic items.

If you get hungry, don’t worry, because there is a wide variety of food for sale at the celebration. The Poway Lions Club and the Poway Kiwanis Club will team up to offer picnic lunches in the park, beginning at 11 a.m. until they run out of food. The picnic lunch includes a bratwurst or hot dog, baked beans, chips and a drink for $5 a plate, free for active duty military and children under 5. Margie’s Wagon will be selling roasted corn and baked potatoes, while the Poway Woman’s Club will be selling ice cream treats, apple pie and patriotic items. Other food for sale includes nachos, sno-cones, watermelon cups, cotton candy, popcorn and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

When the Old Fashioned Fourth of July ends, don’t worry, because there will be a fireworks display held at Poway High School, with gates opening at 7 p.m., and the fireworks beginning at 9 p.m. The fireworks will feature a D.J. and games prior to the beginning of the show. Admission is $2, but children under 11 are free. The fireworks show always fills up fast, so get there early to ensure parking and a good viewing spot.

Additional fireworks viewing and parking is available at Lake Poway. Parking is free for residents, $5 for non-residents.

A ceremony is being held to honor our city’s veterans at 10:30 a.m. at Veterans Park, across the street from Old Poway Park, where tiles with the names of veterans will be unveiled on the new south wall. Tiles are still available to purchase for future placement. An 8-by-8-inch tile is $350, a 4-by-8-inch tile is $150.

The park’s cannon will be fired off, which only happens twice a year, and there will be birthday cake available to celebrate the birthday of the United States.

For more details on Fourth of July events in Poway, call 858-668-4671.