Hope you enjoyed the celebrations
July 9, 2021 at 5:21 p.m.
Hope you enjoyed the celebrations
By Cyrus Johnson -
College Corner started early in the day Saturday with activities at the Grove baseball diamonds. The annual softball game was a real treat. Most, if not all, of the ladies involved played softball for Union County and their competitive spirit translated onto the field. Rebecca Sayne Meyers was playing in the softball game for the first time this year. She said this after rounding the bases and scoring a run, panting to catch her breath, “I had no idea how competitive it was.” Nevertheless, it was all in good fun and the ladies shook hands after the game. Other events at the ball diamonds included the youth league home run derby and the old timer’s game between Liberty and College. We will have all the results of the Grove’s activities in the next issue of the Herald. These events took place later in the day and into the evening.
Soon after the softball game, the Grove started to fill up with families looking for fun - and they were not disappointed. Wrist bands were $7.50, which gave kids endless access to the two bouncing houses set up under the shade of some tall trees. Beside the hopping houses, there was an assortment of carnival-style games available for free. Kids shot targets, lassoed the bull, threw rings, smashed the bell and a whole lot more. All I saw were smiles as the children wore themselves out on the carnival games, then moved over to the playground. They played on the slides and merry-go-round until they were bored, then back to the carnival games again, then back to the playground. This routine was endlessly repeated until their parents told them it was time to come home, or they stopped for something to eat from the concession stand. Tiny children were treated to a ride around the grove on their own personal choo-choo train ride, generously donated by Dustin Glisson. This train was also featured in the CC parade later in the day, carrying a few lucky kids and spouting bubbles for the crowd to enjoy.
Liberty’s festival had a different feel to it. Although there was plenty for kids to do, there were more adult themed events and entertainment to watch. Vendors lined Market Street selling everything from pulled pork sandwiches to snow cones. Booths were set up across the courthouse grounds with locals and guests selling souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Turnout for the Independence Day/ Bicentennial celebration was more than expected. The highlight of the courthouse events had to be the live music. Musical events have played pretty much every night of the celebration, and will continue on until the end. The July 3 headlining act was the Jay Jesse Johnson Band. Jay has been playing music professionally since the late 1970s, but he was “glad to be back in Union County” as he stated during the show. He graduated class of 1974 from Union County High School and currently lives with his wife Anne in Hamilton, Ohio. The crowd was large for Libety’s standards, around 250. Everyone was tapping their feet and singing along with the band’s blues and country renditions. A blend of originals and cover tunes kept the crowd entertained for two, one-hour sets. One highlight was Jay’s patented beer bottle guitar solo. Jay will play a four to five-minute solo while holding a beer bottle in his left hand and picking the strings with his right. He didn’t miss a beat and the spectacle got the crowd fired up, as they started cheering and applauding before the solo was finished. Afterward, Jay blew the foam off the top, took a drink and went right in his next song
The highlight of the day in College Corner was definitely the parade. This was the 31st year for Melissa Sims and the 27th year for Sandy Johnson to be in charge of the event. This is also the final year for both of them as they are transitioning in Linda Hinke to take over next year. Harold Gilmore was also instrumental in the organization of the parade and the day’s events. Mr. Gilmore was supposed to be retired from planning, but came back to help with Bicentennial / Independence Day celebration because he knew, “they would need some help.” Special thanks to all three of them, as well as everyone else involved for putting on such a special day’s events. This parade was one for the history books.
What a way to go out for Melissa and Sandy.
102 entries lined side streets around the elementary school. Motorcycles, classic cars, tractors, go-carts, golf carts, UTVs, military vehicles, fire department trucks spraying the nearby on-lookers and floats with children and people throwing candy into the crowd. I can honestly say that I have never seen more people line the streets of College Corner than I did on that day. From the school to the Grove, the cavalcade of vehicles paraded through town, as patrons cheered and waved. It felt great to see the smallest counties in IN/OH come together for such a monumental celebration.
At 7 p.m. in Liberty, they had another parade on behalf of the revelry. BANG! The American Legion cannon fired and the parade started. Not counting the police cars in the front, Liberty had approximately sixty entries in their parade. Just the same as College Corner, I have never seen such a large crowd for the the Fourth of July parade, especially from the post office down to the edge of the courthouse – the horizon of patrons was impressive. People were crowded everywhere to catch a glimpse of the floats and to cheer on their neighbors.
The July 3rd festivities ended that night at the Grove. Attendance was hard to judge because of how spread out everyone was, but again the turnout was very high. As custom, people brought lawn chairs or blankets and sat on the grass while kids ran around and played with sparklers and snappers.
Unfortunately, I was told there was technical difficulty with the firework show and it was cut short from its planned duration. Instead of a steady stream of explosive flowers, we saw a grand finale from start to finish. It was still worth watching, but was very short.
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College Corner started early in the day Saturday with activities at the Grove baseball diamonds. The annual softball game was a real treat. Most, if not all, of the ladies involved played softball for Union County and their competitive spirit translated onto the field. Rebecca Sayne Meyers was playing in the softball game for the first time this year. She said this after rounding the bases and scoring a run, panting to catch her breath, “I had no idea how competitive it was.” Nevertheless, it was all in good fun and the ladies shook hands after the game. Other events at the ball diamonds included the youth league home run derby and the old timer’s game between Liberty and College. We will have all the results of the Grove’s activities in the next issue of the Herald. These events took place later in the day and into the evening.
Soon after the softball game, the Grove started to fill up with families looking for fun - and they were not disappointed. Wrist bands were $7.50, which gave kids endless access to the two bouncing houses set up under the shade of some tall trees. Beside the hopping houses, there was an assortment of carnival-style games available for free. Kids shot targets, lassoed the bull, threw rings, smashed the bell and a whole lot more. All I saw were smiles as the children wore themselves out on the carnival games, then moved over to the playground. They played on the slides and merry-go-round until they were bored, then back to the carnival games again, then back to the playground. This routine was endlessly repeated until their parents told them it was time to come home, or they stopped for something to eat from the concession stand. Tiny children were treated to a ride around the grove on their own personal choo-choo train ride, generously donated by Dustin Glisson. This train was also featured in the CC parade later in the day, carrying a few lucky kids and spouting bubbles for the crowd to enjoy.
Liberty’s festival had a different feel to it. Although there was plenty for kids to do, there were more adult themed events and entertainment to watch. Vendors lined Market Street selling everything from pulled pork sandwiches to snow cones. Booths were set up across the courthouse grounds with locals and guests selling souvenirs and knick-knacks.
Turnout for the Independence Day/ Bicentennial celebration was more than expected. The highlight of the courthouse events had to be the live music. Musical events have played pretty much every night of the celebration, and will continue on until the end. The July 3 headlining act was the Jay Jesse Johnson Band. Jay has been playing music professionally since the late 1970s, but he was “glad to be back in Union County” as he stated during the show. He graduated class of 1974 from Union County High School and currently lives with his wife Anne in Hamilton, Ohio. The crowd was large for Libety’s standards, around 250. Everyone was tapping their feet and singing along with the band’s blues and country renditions. A blend of originals and cover tunes kept the crowd entertained for two, one-hour sets. One highlight was Jay’s patented beer bottle guitar solo. Jay will play a four to five-minute solo while holding a beer bottle in his left hand and picking the strings with his right. He didn’t miss a beat and the spectacle got the crowd fired up, as they started cheering and applauding before the solo was finished. Afterward, Jay blew the foam off the top, took a drink and went right in his next song
The highlight of the day in College Corner was definitely the parade. This was the 31st year for Melissa Sims and the 27th year for Sandy Johnson to be in charge of the event. This is also the final year for both of them as they are transitioning in Linda Hinke to take over next year. Harold Gilmore was also instrumental in the organization of the parade and the day’s events. Mr. Gilmore was supposed to be retired from planning, but came back to help with Bicentennial / Independence Day celebration because he knew, “they would need some help.” Special thanks to all three of them, as well as everyone else involved for putting on such a special day’s events. This parade was one for the history books.
What a way to go out for Melissa and Sandy.
102 entries lined side streets around the elementary school. Motorcycles, classic cars, tractors, go-carts, golf carts, UTVs, military vehicles, fire department trucks spraying the nearby on-lookers and floats with children and people throwing candy into the crowd. I can honestly say that I have never seen more people line the streets of College Corner than I did on that day. From the school to the Grove, the cavalcade of vehicles paraded through town, as patrons cheered and waved. It felt great to see the smallest counties in IN/OH come together for such a monumental celebration.
At 7 p.m. in Liberty, they had another parade on behalf of the revelry. BANG! The American Legion cannon fired and the parade started. Not counting the police cars in the front, Liberty had approximately sixty entries in their parade. Just the same as College Corner, I have never seen such a large crowd for the the Fourth of July parade, especially from the post office down to the edge of the courthouse – the horizon of patrons was impressive. People were crowded everywhere to catch a glimpse of the floats and to cheer on their neighbors.
The July 3rd festivities ended that night at the Grove. Attendance was hard to judge because of how spread out everyone was, but again the turnout was very high. As custom, people brought lawn chairs or blankets and sat on the grass while kids ran around and played with sparklers and snappers.
Unfortunately, I was told there was technical difficulty with the firework show and it was cut short from its planned duration. Instead of a steady stream of explosive flowers, we saw a grand finale from start to finish. It was still worth watching, but was very short.
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