Published: June 30, 2009 11:43 pm      

J’ville brings back patriotic Water Parade

By Kelsey Palmer

news@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Interest in parades has slowed to a trickle in recent years, but this year a few Jacksonville-area residents are looking to make a splash this Fourth of July.

Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, barges and boats decorated in red, white and blue will circle Lake Jacksonville for the city’s revived Fourth of July Water Parade. According to Lana Cook, one of the master-minds of this year’s water parade, it will be a sight to see.

“It started with me and a few friends deciding to do it ourselves and it has just grown from there,” Cook said. “Right now, we are expecting a pretty good amount of participants — around 20-plus barges.”

As a Jacksonville native, Cook used to attend Lake Jacksonville’s earlier parades honoring the Fourth of Juy and is hoping to revive the old tradition with this year’s parade.

“They used to do this years ago when I was a little girl, and they were a lot of fun,” Cook said. “I think the parade will be good for Lake Jacksonville and the city.”

Cook asks everyone to join in by lining up their boats and barges decorated in a patriotic theme on Saturday at the Lake Jacksonville spillway by 9:50 a.m. For any more information, call her at 903-721-1732.

As for additional celebrations this holiday, the Texas State Railroad will host a Pineywoods Roundtrip Steam Excursion beginning with an 11 a.m. departure on Friday at the Rusk Train Depot.

Also on Friday, the Rusk Rotary Club will hold a “Salute to Veterans” celebration between 5 and 8 p.m. on the downtown square in Rusk. The event is dedicated to all peacetime and wartime veterans. The community is urged to bring food of any sort, as well as cold, non-alcoholic drinks and tables and chairs and gather to thank the dedicated men and women of the armed forces for their service. There will be live and recorded music and those with “war stories” will be urged to share them.

The Rusk Rotary Club will also hold a Fourth of July “Patriotism on Parade” celebration on the Rusk downtown square at 10 a.m. Saturday. There will be an antique car show and a VFW Open House following the parade and continuing until 4 p.m, along with free hot dogs, watermelon and root beer. A host of live gospel and patriotic music will play from the county courthouse steps and the second annual Gage Lankford Fireman’s Competition will also follow the parade.

And always to finish Independence Day off with a bang, this year’s Fourth of July fireworks display will begin at 9:15 p.m. Saturday on Lake Jacksonville.

Fourth of July rides at the Mud Creek and Shiloh Ridge off-road parks will last through July 3-5 and July 2-5, respectively.