Pandemic prompts some creative twists on 4th of July festivities

Thurston County’s big Independence Day celebrations are, of course, canceled. That’s hardly news.

So, if you feel like celebrating, what are you going to do beyond maybe a very small cookout?

Sara Eve Sarliker of Olympia offered a few other suggestions in an original comic she shared with friends on Facebook: soaking in your own socially distanced kiddie pool, hosting a Zoom hootenanny and drawing fireworks (which has the bonus of eliminating the risk of more typical Independence Day injuries).

“I was thinking about how we can safely celebrate July Fourth this year,” said Sarliker, who has a master’s degree in public health and is working as a contact tracer. “I worry that people will get together and share the virus.”

If you’re determined to see fireworks you didn’t draw or attend a parade of sorts, there are a few options.

Fireworks

In Centralia: You can see real, live, not-streamed-on-the-Internet fireworks on Saturday, July 4.

Fireworks, launched from Borst Park, 500 Pioneer Way, will soar up to 1,000 feet in the air for better visibility from a distance.

“In the past, we were shooting off fireworks that were going about 300 to 400 feet in the air, so it’s a big show,” said Lee Coumbs, the city’s former mayor and the longtime organizer of its big Summerfest celebration, which was canceled this year.

The park will be closed, but the 20-minute display should be visible from much of the city, he told The Olympian. He suggested that people driving into town to watch park at one of the outlet malls near Interstate 5 or on any street in the northern part of the city.

Coumbs has been involved with Summerfest, the city’s daylong July 4 festival, since it began in 1976 as a celebration of the nation’s bicentennial. “And that’s remarkable, because I’m only 32,” he said with a chuckle.

He’s hoping for Summerfest’s return next year and meanwhile is grateful that he, Centralia’s Parks and Recreation Department and fireworks sponsor Frank Christin, who owns Uncle Ando’s Wurld of Weed, could work together to light up the sky for a 45th Fourth of July.

In Tacoma: The Rainiers AAA minor league baseball team will put on their traditional fireworks show Friday, July 3, at Cheney Stadium, 2502 S. Tyler St., even though the stands will be empty not just that day but for the season.

The display will begin at 9:45 p.m. in the stadium parking lot along Clay Huntington Way off Highway 16.

“July 3 is traditionally the biggest day of the year for the Rainiers and our fans,” Rainiers president Aaron Artman said in a press release. “There’s decades of July 3 history at Cheney Stadium. It’s a special day for our fans.”

The club is asking people who want to gather nearby to watch to maintain a social distance. You can also watch the show on the Rainiers Facebook page.

Parades, sort of

In Chehalis: Parades in the regular sense aren’t possible right now, but the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis and the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum have come up with an alternative.

It’s a “Static Parade.” In other words, floats and other parade participants will be arranged along the parade route, and people who come to see the event will do the driving.

“We have our Christmas lights in Borst Park, where people set up displays and you drive through, so I thought, ‘Why can’t we do that for the Fourth of July?’ ” said Chip Duncan, director of the veterans museum.

The parade will be on display from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 4 on the 17 acres of land between the veterans museum, at 100 S.W. Veterans Way, Chehalis, and I-5.

“It’s just the simplest solution so that we can still do something and have fun while doing it,” Duncan told The Olympian.

Among the 30 or so groups participating are the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a group of Revolutionary War re-enactors, both from Olympia, and some “Ghostbusters” enthusiasts from Longview.

“The Ghostbusters have the ambulance and everything,” Duncan said.

Both museums will be open, with limited occupancy. There will be food trucks on the grounds of the railroad museum, at 1101 S.W. Sylvenus St., Chehalis, and the train will be running (at 50 percent occupancy) at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. Tickets are $12-$20 per person.

From Tumwater: In lieu of its usual parade, fireworks show and family festival, the Tumwater Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a Virtual Fourth of July.

You can revisit last year’s parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 4, on Thurston County Media broadcast channels and online, and the department’s Facebook event page will stream Alex Zerbe’s “Zaniac Juggling Show” at 4 p.m. and a magic show by Jeff Evans at 6 p.m. The online event wraps up with a video of highlights from the 2017 celebration at 8 p.m.

“I’ll also be encouraging community members to share images of what they’re up to this Fourth of July,” said Marisa Worden, Tumwater’s recreation marketing specialist.

Maybe a shot of you in your kiddie pool?