Star-Spangled Spectacular promises something for everyone

Jul. 2—LIMA — Lima is set to celebrate the Fourth of July with this year's Star-Spangled Spectacular Thursday at Faurot Park off of South Cole Street and Lakewood Avenue and Your Hometown Stations public service director Mike Carpenter said the festival atmosphere will be in full effect.

The event will start with a 5K at 9 a.m. at Faurot Park and continue with events like a round net tournament, a car cruise-in and the kid's fishing derby before finishing with a performance by the Lima Area Concert Band, giving way to the largest fireworks display in west central Ohio at 10 p.m.

"We're expecting about 500 people at the 5K so that's always a lot of fun," Carpenter said. "New this year is the round net tournament, which is also called spike ball, at 11 a.m."

The round net tournament, which features concepts similar to volleyball, is designed to attract the younger crowd and is sponsored by The Lima News.

"We're hoping it's going to be great and something that we can continue to have," Carpenter added. "My sons actually just went to a tournament in Columbus two weekends ago and they love playing the sport. Hopefully, we'll get a good crowd for that because we'd love to have about 20 teams of two and bring it back."

The annual event will see residents joining in on familiar activities to celebrate the holiday commemorating America's founding.

"There's usually something going on all day," Carpenter said. "A lot of people will bring picnics to the park and some will have family reunions there with a canopy to come out for lunch. The food trucks will be there during the day and people can come out during the evening to enjoy the concert and fireworks from the bowl area."

The event has had to rebound from the pandemic in terms of sponsorship, but it is all worth it to provide an event for the community to celebrate our nation's independence.

"It's something for the community to enjoy and something that goes on throughout the day," Carpenter added. " It's just nine that we can offer something on the Fourth of July and hopefully it will build back better every year. Will it ever be as big as it was 30 years ago? Maybe not, but maybe we will get more people to come out and more sponsorships."

It all leads to one thing: the fireworks.

"I hope they come out and have a lot of fun, feeling a sense of community with the people that are their friends and neighbors," Carpenter said. "You don't have to go out of town for your entertainment when our fireworks display is one of the best in the area so why not just stay here and watch?"

For more information on the Star-Spangled Spectacular, visit lima4th.com.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.