Newberry residents: Get your water balloons ready.
The Newberry Independence Day parade will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, and will follow its usual route. While there won’t be any candy given out, the Newberry Fire Department has confirmed their trucks will be loaded with water for what is sure to be a quarantine-level water fight. We have been warned.
Parade organizer Sarah Price Freeman said the parade will start at the Mac’s Market SuperValu parking lot and will end in front of Timber Charlie’s. Though Freeman and the Kiwanis Club originally thought they may extend the parade route, there wasn’t enough time to get the required permits, she said.
In Curtis, a parade will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 5. As in Newberry, there will be no candy or handouts during the parade. The route has been lengthened to extend to Three Lakes Academy so people can spread out. Parade organizers John and Mary Gowan have asked attendees to practice current CDC health recommendations, which include staying six feet apart from people not in your household and wearing a mask when in public buildings.
Immediately after the parade the Engadine High School band will perform on the lawn of the Erickson Center. The Lions chicken dinner, an annual feast, will begin serving at 11 a.m.
Hand washing stations will be available near the port-a-potties in Curtis, and hand sanitizer will be available in various locations including at many vendor booths.
“And we certainly will be encouraging people to stand six feet apart, just like you do when you go into the grocery store, or the hardware store,” Mary Gowan said. “We’ll hope that people do that.”
A fireworks display is planned at dusk in Curtis on July 5. People do not have to stay in their cars during the fireworks.
“I think people are going to understand,” Gowan said. “I think they’ll be spread out.”
