Annual Fourth of July celebration set
Russellville city council members David Grissom and Gary Cummings place a sign promoting the city’s upcoming July Fourth celebration at Sloss Lake. | Nathan Strickland/FCT
City officials have made plans to host another Fourth of July celebration this year to negate the heavy economic burden that has plagued many residents.
This year’s “Jam on Sloss Lake” will feature inflatables for the kids, a waterslide set aside for children up to 10-years-old, train rides, bands, food and an extravagant firework show.
Admission is free to the public and festivities begin a 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 4.
A food vendor will be brought in this year to help with those who want a snack.
“We tried to do the food by ourselves last year and we didn’t realize how overwhelming it could be,” Cummings said. “This year we got someone who is more organized and offers a lot of great foods like funnel cakes, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and much more.”
Bands will hit the stage around 3 p.m. and for the first time audience members will have the chance to win some cash.
“We are going to try to do something new this year between the performances of the third and fourth band,” said Councilman Gary Cummings. “We plan to have designated people with money go through the crowd and the sixth person they shake hands with will win money. There will be a total of $1,000 circling the crowd. When I was a kid the Russellville merchants did this at a festival downtown and it went great. We want to show that this is the friendliest town in Alabama.”
Cummings said there were around 5,000 people who joined the festivities last year and this year he is expecting there to be many more.
“We are expecting to see around 7,500 to 8,000 people this year,” Cummings said. “This event is something the mayor, council and the utility board wanted to continue. The utility board has really helped us out this year by kicking in a third of the cost. We really appreciate their efforts.”
Cummings said the event was big last year and he hopes to see it grow in the years to come.
“I believe the event will show off the unity we have here in Russellville,” he said. “Some businesses have peeked an interest in the event and have asked if they could come out and set up a booth or spot promoting their business. It is all coming together nicely.”
The firework show is planned to begin at 9:30 p.m. and Cummings believes last year’s show went really well.
“We just had an all around good time last year,” he said. “There is going to be some really talented artists like the KGB and Rewind that are sure to put on a great show.
It is going to be at the same location as last year and we hope everyone will come out to celebrate the fourth.”
There will be security on site so that everyone will be able to enjoy every aspect of the event.
