Patriotism ablaze at Charlo celebration
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CHARLO — A patriotic and festive Charlo Fourth of July Celebration drew eager spectators from all over Lake County on Sunday.
From Ronan to St. Ignatius, residents lined the streets to watch the parade, celebrate Independence Day and partake in the day’s festivities.
“It’s amazing the amount of people who pack into that little town on that day,” Charlo-Moiese Volunteer Fire Board Chairman Shane Reum said.
The parade boasted 36 entries — all eager participants, flaunting their float, show animal or old fashioned automobile. Following a stirring Star Spangled Banner, sung by recent Charlo alumnus Kristi Fullerton, the Ronan VFW Honor Guard was the first group to march proudly down Main Street. Other organizations rode bicycles decorated in red, white and blue. And some organizations went the extra mile to build and decorate festive floats, sporting the parade’s theme “Traveling Through the Times of Montana.”
The Lake County Search and Rescue made a last-minute appearance in the parade and proudly rode their horses through town.
After the initial march down Main Street, the parade returned a second time to give the parade spectators another treat and children a second chance to snatch candy.
The unusually cool weather didn’t hinder the fire department from using their fire trucks to cool off the streets at the end of the parade. Children played and splashed in the temporary waterfall, while most adults made an effort to stay away from the stream of water.
Following the parade, Fourth of July festivities continued with turtle races at Tiny’s Tavern, face painting in the park, and food stands set up by various organizations. All fundraising events benefited the fireworks display later that evening.
Parade organizer Angie Mock explained that in future years she would like to form a community group to organize a day full of events, commemorating the holiday.
“It would really be great to make this more of a community effort,” she explained. “This is the one true way that we can boost up our town, so it would be really neat to get the community more involved.”
She said that three years ago, Charlo had games for the younger crowd in the park and she hopes that a community organization could produce something similar for future celebrations.
“We would really like to get something established so it keeps people and families in town to enjoy the activities together,” she said.
