July Fourth: Independence Day weekend kicks off with a boom, followed by 'Red, White & Blues' festival
Gahanna is to kick off its Independence Day celebration with fireworks July 1, followed by the Gahanna Foundation’s 12-hour Red, White & Blues Festival July 2 and conclude with the Gahanna Lions Club annual July Fourth parade.
The city of Gahanna announced on its Facebook page May 20 that the fun is to begin at 5:30 p.m. July 1 at the Gahanna Municipal Golf Course, 220 Olde Ridenour Rd., with food and live music, headlined by the ever-popular Reaganomics.
The event is to culminate with the fireworks display at 10 p.m. presented by Kemba Financial Credit Union.
The Gahanna Foundation’s Red, White & Blues is to continue the party from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 2, featuring live music, food trucks, local vendors, 50/50 raffles and a "Democracy Classroom and Fair," where guests can register to vote and update voter information.
John Michael Spinelli, president the Gahanna Foundation, Inc., said Red White & Blues was born last year as a three-hour, pre-fireworks music party, and it has expanded to a day-long festival at 82 N. High Street.
Going forward, Spinelli said, Red, White & Blues will be the Gahanna Foundation’s major fundraising event for the year.
He said the foundation focuses on civic engagement projects that are affordable and make a big impact on quality of life.
To learn more, visit online at the gahannafoundation.org.
The Gahanna Lions Club is to host the annual Fourth of July parade that kicks off at 10:30 a.m. July 4 at Clark Hall, 366 Granville Street, with the theme “Proud to be an American.”
Chuck Rees, Lions parade and membership chairman, said the grand marshals are to be long-time Lions Club members Arnold Koehler, Don Quick, Dave Barnecut and himself.
He said they all have served about four decades or more.
“All the Lions members are patriotic,” Rees said. “We’re honoring the Lions members for all the hard work they’ve done.”
He said the club lost six members during the pandemic.
“Some had other diseases,” Rees said. “When COVID came on, we lost six. All of them were the older ones. But we have a lot of new people. We now have more women than men.”
He said there’s currently 23 members. “Anyone is welcome to join,” Rees said. “We try to keep it (the parade) hometown. Our funds are from the for-profit businesses and politicians. We try to maintain that.”
No pre-registration is required for the parade, excluding businesses and political entries.
The form can be found online.
mkuhlman@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekMarla
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: July Fourth kicks off with a boom, followed by 'Red, White & Blues'
