Flashes of fireworks will filled the air across this country Saturday. Many citizens of Rush County, as well as the rest of the nation, will have family gatherings or watch patriotic parades to celebrate the Fourth of July. For others, Saturday is a holiday for celebrating our nation’s freedom.

Many local businesses have given employees the holiday off from work. The Rushville Republican will publish a paper Friday, but give most of its office personnel the day off. City and county government offices are closed, as are many banks and businesses.

According to the United States Postal Service, most Indiana Post Office retail counters will close at noon Friday. Noon will be the last collection for mail deposited in the blue boxes. Regular mail delivery for Saturday will be unaffected.

It is commonly known that the day is celebrated annually as the birthday of the United States of America. How the celebrations and customs developed are less well-known.

Originally called Independence Day, the holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The document declared the 13 colonies free from the rule of George III of England. Signing was completed in August of that year.

Whether you call it by the old name of Independence Day or simply the Fourth of July, there will be plenty to do in Rushville to celebrate this patriotic holiday.

The Rushville Breakfast Optimist Club will hold its 23rd annual Fourth of July Car Show & Swap Meet in North Veterans Memorial Park west of SR 3 in Rushville. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Saturday with awards presented at 3 p.m. Registration fee is only $15.

Rain or shine, the show will go on! Enjoy music from the ‘50s and ‘60s as you view the plethora of vehicles in the shade.

Waggener Community Pool will be open and there are playground areas throughout the park.

Awards include Top 20, Best of Show, President’s Choice, Mayor’s Choice, Most Club Participation and Longest Distance Traveled.

For booth space and car show information contact Chuck Kemker at (317) 752-2073 or e-mail rushvilleoptimist@yahoo.com. All proceeds are used by the Rushville Breakfast Optimist Club to benefit Rush County youth programs.

Don’t miss the annual parade at 11 a.m. The Fourth of July parade will run from Third Street on Main Street to 11th, go west on 11th to Sexton and end in the fairgrounds. Everyone is invited to participate.

Line up begins at 9 a.m. at Third and Perkins streets.

Due to the July 4 parade the local farmers’ and artisans’ market will be located in the 100 block of West Third Street this Saturday. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon.

Following the annual holiday parade, the Briar Patch Players will present shows at 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday. All shows will be held at the Laughlin Center on the Rushville Consolidated High School campus. (There are shows at 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday.)

“RUSH COUNTY RECESS (shun)” features a group of 37 high schoolers who will continue a comedy tradition that’s been going on in Rush County since the first Homer Festival in 1967.

Satire, song, and story guide this year’s varying story lines, which continue the theory behind the Players – both Briar Patch and the old Slabtown – that there is much locally to poke fun at without being mean or offensive. There’s lots “right” with our old home community and the overall goal is to give folks a certain sense of pride in living here.

A portion of the show’s donations will go to fund the Jeff Hufford Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Rush County Community Foundation.

At 5 p.m., Sexton Street from 16th Street to Foster Heights will be closed to through traffic until after 10 p.m. because of the presence of the fireworks display.

Dance away the time waiting for the aerial displays from 8 to 10 p.m. at a DJ dance on the Rushville Elementary north parking lot. Everyone is invited to come early and listen to good music in anticipation of the fireworks display.

At 10 p.m. Fireworks Spectacular, Freedom 2009, will be shot from the field north of Rushville Elementary School, choreographed to patriotic music aired on WKPW (90.7). Please note: This is a change of radio stations.

For everyone’s safety, please leave personal fireworks at home.

Due to the July 4 holiday, the CleanGreenRush Tox-Away Center will be open from 8 a.m. to noon July 11 instead of the usual first Saturday to collect household hazardous waste. The next eScrap collection of electronics will be in October.



Jan Voiles can be contacted at jan.voiles@rushvillerepublican.com or at (765) 932-2222 ext. 107. Add a comment to this story at www.rushvillerepublican.com