FAITH — After the pandemic effectively shuttered Faith’s staple Fourth of July celebration last year, the town has finalized plans to host its typical multi-day, firework-filled event this summer.

The festivities will commence on June 30 and last until July 5, since the Fourth of July falls on a Sunday this year. In addition to rides, booths and contests of gastrointestinal fortitude, the celebration will feature fireworks shows and a parade.

“I think it’s going to be more exciting knowing that we’re going to do it this year,” said Gloria Wilhelm, one of the event’s main organizers. “It’s like popping a bubble. It’s going to happen again.”

Not only will this July’s festivities be a return to normal for the town, but it will also mark the 75th anniversary of when the Fourth of July celebration was started. Or perhaps, restarted.

Randall Barger, the chair of this year’s Fourth of July committee, said the town can trace the celebration’s roots back to the first few years of the 1900s. That’s when, he said, residents of the area gathered for picnics to honor Confederate War veterans.

The celebrations continued until the 1920s, but the great depression and world wars interjected. After WWII ended, Barger said the town rejuvenated the annual celebration in 1946. Barger’s grandfather was involved in the merriment and Barger remembers being taken to the celebrations by his parents when he was only a small child.

In the decades that followed, Barger said he hasn’t missed the yearly bash. Even last year, when the formal celebration was canceled, Barger and a handful of others hosted a small barbecue fundraiser.

Still, he missed the traditional celebration, which has evolved and grown over time to include watermelon and hot dog eating contests, a singing competition known as “Faith Idol” and live performances from professional musicians, too.

“It was very, very sickening,” Barger said. “It was a big letdown, knowing all of the people that enjoy it and the families that meet there. When we didn’t have it, it was just a big void.”

While Barger and many of the town’s residents were disheartened by the lack of Fourth of July events last summer, the town’s businesses and civic organizations might have missed them more. Barger said the town’s Civitan, American Legion and Legion Auxiliary groups, each of whom helps organize and run the events, count on the money raised during the celebration.

“Most of them rely on the Fourth of July to survive,” Barger said. “Without that revenue, it hurts them bad.”

The money distributed to those organizations, Wilhelm said, comes back to the community or other worthy causes in the form of scholarships and donations.

The influx of visitors drawn to the town for the celebration are also a boon to the downtown businesses like Faith Soda Shop, Barger said.

This year’s celebration will be similar to years prior, but will feature two firework shows instead of just one. The first fireworks will be set off on July 3 at 10:30 p.m. and the second firework show will close the celebration on July 5 at 10:30 p.m. 

The parade is scheduled for July 5 at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a flag raising and national anthem singing by Neal Wilkerson, as well as the crowning of Miss Rowan County Veteran and the introduction of dignitaries. All activities take place on the Faith American Legion Park and former Faith Elementary School grounds. 

Like Barger, Wilhelm said she has been attending the celebrations since she was a child.

“I started when I was about 14 years old working in the food booth over here,” Wilhelm said. “They would put me at the end of the table when it was time to wrap a hotdog or hamburger.”

Now, Wilhelm is in charge of much more than just wrapping concessions. She organizes the event’s vendors. This year’s lineup of vendors, she said, will feature the usual suspects, including SnoBiz, Hoff’s, a corn on the cob vendor and more. Wilhelm said burgers and hot dogs will be served by the town’s civic organizations and that 175 pork shoulders will be barbecued for attendees.

Barger said he is anticipating crowds to return to normal this summer.

“I think everybody is going to get out and we’re going to have a great year,” Barger said.

Gov. Roy Cooper recently lifting the mask mandate and peeling back many COVID-19 restrictions helps, he said.

“It will take some doubt out of people’s minds, to make sure it’s OK for people to do it,” Barger said.

There will be hand sanitizer stations set up around the festivities and Barber said people who feel uncomfortable around crowds are encouraged to wear masks if they so choose.

More information about the Faith Fourth of July celebration, including dates and times for ride specials, can be found online at https://www.faith4th.com/.