Independence Day Celebration

I'm JB Howick, and I'm writing to invite members of the community to form an Independence Day Celebration Committee. I understand that everyone's busy, but I believe our growing community would be well served with a more immersive celebration. I believe that working together we can bring the skills and experience together to make these celebrations a success!

Notably, our country's semiquincentennial or 250th Independence Day celebration is coming in 2026. That celebration should be a home-run for our community and I believe our efforts to build to that celebration starting in 2024 is important.

The goal of this effort is not to create another comprehensive, non-profit organization. I'm hoping to create a meeting of individuals and community group representatives who can help share the load to achieve a single goal on behalf of the community.

I do have an ulterior motive. I believe an Independence Day celebration can be used to encourage volunteerism, which I believe is declining across America. It is my sincere hope that individuals and organizations would participate with booths of their own showing the wonderful things each does for, and bring to, our community, as well as encouraging membership and involvement in our many non-profit community groups.

Finally, I'd like to offer an unofficial and merely possible outline of what such a celebration could look like. I recognize that doing this could be equally intimidating and motivating, but I'm hoping that seeing a vision of what we could have will, indeed, be motivating.

If you are willing to work together to enjoy Independence Day celebrations like those so many of us remember from our youth, please send an email to keithjr@howick.org and I will add you to the growing email list.

Thank you!

-JB Howick

Draft Independence Day celebration:

7:00 AM Memorial Park 7:30 AM Breakfast & 5K Fun Run 10:00 AM (Awards opportunity) Parade on Broadway 11:30 AM (Awards opportunity) Kids Parade @ Heritage Park 12:00 PM Heritage Park activities begin

12:30 PM Free access (Advertising for this throughout the day at the various locations)

1:30 PM Military helicopter flyover 2:30 PM Family Feud at Heritage Park 3:30 PM Community Water Fight! 6:30 PM Activities @ Heritage park wrap up 7:00 PM Announcements 7:30 PM (Fundraising opportunity) Community dinner 8:00 PM Free movie 10:00 PM Fireworks on the Missouri