Community Corner

Poway to Sparkle for Fourth of July

Monday's festivities begin with the Old-Fashioned Fourth of July at Old Poway Park and end with the annual fireworks show at Poway High School.

Poway knows how to celebrate the Fourth of July—all day and all night long.  

The city’s two annual events, the “Old-Fashioned Fourth of July” and the fireworks show are back with some new features this year.

The festivities kick-off with the Old-Fashioned Fourth of July at  from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. There will be live patriotic entertainment, arts and crafts, games, train rides, mock gunfights, train robbery reenactments and picnic-style food and snacks for sale.

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“It’s a great event,” said Old Poway Park Recreation Supervisor David Richards. “I think there’s an event in every community for the Fourth, but this event really stands out as unique, because it’s really a turn-of-the-century event.”

Attendees can check out the Heritage Museum and Nelson House. In addition, the Friendship Quilters will display quilts, the Poway Station Model Railroad Club will display model trains, the park’s blacksmiths will demonstrate iron making and the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild will sell handmade crafts.

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There will also be live musical performances in the gazebo throughout the day from local favorites such as the Pomerado Community Band and the Poway Folk Circle.

The Poway Folk Circle regularly hosts folk song circles and bluegrass jams in Poway and the surrounding communities, but this is the first time the group of local musicians is performing at the annual Fourth of July event, said Jeff Bertino, the coordinator of the group.

“We enjoy doing music in the park,” Bertino said. “We think it’s a great way to give back to the city, because we do so much in the park there. They’re great hosts for us.”

The group will perform bluegrass, old time music and folk songs for about 30 minutes, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the gazebo.

“We just think it’s fun,” Bertino said. “It’s an important holiday. It’s one of those events that bring the whole city together.”

Other new additions to the festivities include a card-making booth. Richards said a local Girl Scout is organizing the booth to achieve a Girl Scout Silver Award. She hopes attendees will help create 600-700 cards for U.S. troops overseas, Richards said.

There will also be an unveiling and other patriotic activities at the .

Richards said organizers expect 2,000-3,000 attendees for the daytime activities. They anticipate 65-70 percent of the participants will be Poway residents.

“It’s a local favorite,” Richards said. “It does attract—especially when services in surrounding regions are diminishing—some outside residents as well.”

Admission is free to the old-west-themed event, which is hosted by the city of Poway and the Old Poway Park Action Committee.

Although Monday’s daytime festivities end at 4 p.m., the evening fun begins soon after. Powegians and other community members are invited to gather at the  stadium for Poway’s annual fireworks show.

A DJ will play music throughout the evening while city of Poway recreation staff host games from 7-9 p.m. Blanket and bleacher seating are available for the fireworks show, which begins at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $2 for adults. Children 11 and younger are free with a paid adult. There will be shuttle service from  to the stadium before and after the event.

There will also be additional viewing and parking available at Lake Poway. Parking is $5 for non-Poway residents.

“The location of Poway High serves the community of Poway well in that you have the surrounding communities, as well as the Lake Poway recreation area that serves as a natural viewing for this show,” said Recreation Supervisor Mark Olson.

Olson said 3,000-5,000 people usually attend the annual event, which began in the early 1990s.

“This has been a Poway tradition for many years,” Olson said. “It’s something that the community has really rallied around.”

For more information, call 858-668-4595 or visit www.poway.org.


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