GREENE – The Town of Greene invites residents and visitors to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States with a full day of festivities on July 4.

Sponsored by the Greene Lions Club, a small volunteer committee has organized one of the largest celebrations the town has undertaken with a packed schedule of patriotic festivities. Funded by community members and local business donations, they are preparing to to mark this historic occasion. The event will be filled with history, music, food, games, performances, and fireworks in what organizers describe as a “once-in-a-lifetime” anniversary celebration.

Committee members Jessup Dumond and Melissa Jones say the celebration reflects the towns traditional community spirit.

“Greene always steps up and shows up when it comes to festivals,” said Dumond who also called Greene a “celebration town.” While Jones likened the day's activities to something out of a “hallmark movie.” “I think that this celebration reiterates some small-town community values,” said Jones, “ You can celebrate in big cities and stuff like that, but you're not rubbing elbows with your neighbors. And people who live in towns next door to you.”

Not only have the events been sponsored by the Greene Lions Club, community members and local businesses have also contributed to make the day as festive as possible.

“It's been pretty fantastic to see, like, just the commitment from our community to see this happen,” said Jones. “These are hard times for a lot of people, but they're still opening their pockets because they want to celebrate with their community. They understand the level of, a once-in-a-lifetime experience this is.”

Morning events begin with a community breakfast

The festivities begin at 8 a.m. with a community prayer breakfast at Lions Park, sponsored by the Greene Area Churches. The breakfast is free and open with free-will donations accepted for the sponsors. Organizers say the intention of the prayer breakfast is to start the day off as a community and acknowledge the country's early history of religious liberty. “The country was founded on religious liberty,” said Dumond, “It's kind of an ode to that.”

“Our founding fathers were all different denominations, but all God-believing Christians. So we're starting the day with that.”

The Breakfast runs from 8 to 10 a.m. at 1 Lions Park Lane.

America the Beautiful Parade

At 11 a.m. the “America the Beautiful Parade” steps off from the Raymond Corporation parking lot on South Canal Street and travels through the town before concluding at the Ball Flats where the rest of the days activities occur.

One of the parade's signature elements is a procession of all 50 state flags plus five U.S. territories. Organizers put out a call for volunteer flag carriers and were surprised with the personal responses that came back. Members of the Greene community expressed wanting to carry specific states because they had lived there before or have family there. “Now we've gotten this personal connection to these states,” said Jones.

As of the interview, 39 of the 55 flags had confirmed carriers. Volunteers wishing to participate in the parade should arrive at the Raymond parking lot at 10 a.m. to get set up. It is not a requirement to be a Town of Greene Resident.

The parade will also feature, classic cars, motorcycles, processions by local businesses, among other patriotic displays and local musician Ben Johnson, plans to sing and play guitar from a trailer throughout the parade. Organizers say there should be much more as they're waiting to see what shows up at 10 that day to be in the parade. There were even talks of a trackless train.

Lineup begins at 10 am at the Raymond Corporation, located at 22 South Canal Street. The parade is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with the procession traveling along Canal Street before turning onto Cutler Road and continuing down North Chenango Street, to conclude at the Community Ball Flats, where the rest of the day's festivities will take place.

Ceremonial Moments

Aside from all the entertainment, food , and activities, the committee has also made time for recognizing history. At approximately 12:30, Dumond will read the Declaration of Independence aloud, in its entirety. A task he has been preparing for and said will take around 14 minutes.

In ceremonial fashion they have also arranged for all of the churches in Greene to ring their bells at 2:50 pm. Participating in a nationwide initiative asking churches and historic sites across the country to ring its bells all at the same time to commemorate America 250.

Afternoon Events at the Community Ball Flats

Once the parade arrives at the Ball Flats, the celebration continues with a full schedule of entertainment, food, and activities for all ages.

Car Show

A car show with cash prizes and will run from noon to 3 p.m. Entry in the competition is $10, showing a car without competing is free.

“We're expecting a ton of cars,” said Dumond. “We've got some pretty strong local car enthusiasts here,” said Jones anticipating a worth while display. They even mention that some of these local car enthusiasts will bring antique cars to display as well.

Participants will be able to register their car right at the entrance of the ball flats.

Kids Zone

A designated “Kids Zone”, sponsored by Bonnie's and the Canine Canal, will offer free activities for the kids to do. Think things like sand art, water tables, hair stencils, and temporary tattoos.

Greene's own students are also hosting some activities. The middle and high school Interact Club will run classic field games, from 12-2 p.m. such as three-legged races, wheelbarrow races, various relays, water balloons, and potato sack races. While the High School Class of 2027 will operate a dunk tank that they've gotten local officials and teachers to be on the dunk seat for.

“15 minutes apiece,” said Dumond referring to how long the dunk tank volunteers will sit at the edge of their seat. He may or may not be one of them, you'll have to attend to get a chance to dunk your favorite local star or high school teacher.

Live Performances

A full lineup of entertainment will take place at the Ball Flats throughout the day. Starting with Paul Noyd from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.

Following Noyd, there is a special student theater performance. This youth-driven theatrical production written by Greene's own Clair Nolan, the town's youth services librarian, is a parody of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, titled “Christmas in July.” It features a student who is visited by a series of historical and contemporary American figures who attempt to change the students fate. The 20 minute show takes to the main stage at the Ball Flats at 1:40.

From 2-4 p.m., Two Johns No Waiting performs. Then, from 4 to 5:30 Dancing with D Dance Studio will be hosting Line Dancing. Local musicians, the Spare Parts Band from 6 to 8:30 concludes the night before the fireworks display. DJ Good Vibes will be providing music throughout the day.

Food and Refreshments

Food options begin at noon with a chicken barbecue and expand throughout the day leading up to a food truck rally beginning at 4 p.m.

“Fourth of July, everything is going to be closed in the village from a food perspective. So to keep people sort of down here and hydrated and, well-nourished, we've got a whole bunch of food trucks coming in,” said Jones.

Visitors can expect a variety of food throughout the day, barbecue, mac and cheese, ice cream, even a “dirty” soda shop is expected to be there. The Chamber of Commerce will be serving hot dogs and hamburgers.

“We've got all kinds of things. Every carnival thing you could think of,” said Jones.

Softball game and hotdog eating contest

At 5 pm a community softball game is planned, complete with a “7th inning stretch” hot dog eating contest.

Dumond explained that at ball games there is typically a 7th inning strech where spectators and players stand up and strech. Well, at this game, that time will be filled with an old-fashioned hotdog eating contest.

“because hotdogs are Americana,” said Dumond. “This is a bad say to be a hot dog,” Jones added jokingly.

Fireworks Finale

The celebration conclude with a fireworks display at approximately 9:30 p.m.

“The fireworks are a big deal on July fourth for this village because we don't ever do them,” explained Dumond. The comittee has raised fudns to put on a specatabular display through its title sponsors CocoJune and the Danny Tallet Foundation, as well as from small-dollar contributions from community members.

“That was, like, one of our biggest things that we had to get done is make sure we get fireworks,” said Dumond. One of the top priorities of the committee was securing the firework show and, the organizers said the community really stepped up to make it possible.

The display will provide a celebratory end to the full day of activities, offering families a chance to settle in with lawn chairs and enjoy the show together.

Volunteers still welcome

Organizers emphasized that the America250 celebration is entirely volunteer driven and additional help is still welcome. You can sign up to contribute in two ways: show up in the morning of the event at the headquarters tent at the Ball Flats where committee members will assign task as needed, or message the committees Facebook page to express interest or ask questions ahead of time. Find the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581476952044