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Durango gears up for Fourth
Fireworks, parades, will mark holiday
Herald Staff Writer
Photo by Kunkel
Kunkel
Fourth of July events
Durango
•The Durango Rotary Club will sponsor an All-American Pancake Breakfast from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Rotary Park behind the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4031 at Main Avenue and 15th Street. Adult tickets are $9, children 4 to 12 are $5, and those younger than 4 are free.
•The Freedom 5K run will begin at 9 a.m. in Rotary Park. The event is free and open to all ages.
•The Durango Elks Lodge’s Independence Day Barbecue will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the lodge. For more information, call 247-0066.
•The American Declaration of Independence and other important founding documents will be read from 11 a.m. to noon in Buckley Park.
•The Kids to Kids Flea Market will be held from noon to 3 p.m. in Buckley Park. There will be toys, sporting goods, clothes, music and games. For space reservations, call 385-1515.
•A family picnic and barbecue cook-off will be held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Buckley Park. There will be music, food, games and beer garden. For more information, visit www.cookmanfood.com.
•The Stars and Stripes Parade will be held from 6 to 6:30 p.m. on Main Avenue.
•A street dance will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Main Avenue. The High Rollers will perform.
•The fireworks display will begin at 9:15 p.m.
Bayfield
•A parade on Mill Street starts at 10 a.m. with live music, food, arts and crafts and kids’ activities in Joe Stephenson Park until 5 p.m.
•At fireworks show will start at dusk at Bayfield High School.
Silverton
•A 5K and 10K Blue Ribbon Fun Run will start at 7:30 a.m. in Memorial Park.
•A parade and water fight will start at 10:30 a.m. on Greene and Blair streets.
•The Silverton Gun Fighters Show is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at 12th and Blair streets.
•The fireworks show will begin at 9:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.silvertonevents.com.
Other locales
•A fireworks show will take place at sundown at the north end of Vallecito Lake on County Road 501.
•In Arboles, a parade will begin at 10 a.m., after which there will be a barbecue with food and band at the TARA Community Center. For more information, call 883-3070.
Durango's firework's display will go on, bright as last year and so will all the previous year's events, which will include a 5K run, pancake breakfast, community picnic and parade.
We've sort of settled into a lineup where each activity is sponsored by somebody different,
- Bob Kunkel, special events and business coordinator
Bob Kunkel, special events and business coordinator for Durango's Central Business District, credited the many volunteers involved in the events for keeping them alive year to year.
"We appreciate those who stay here and want to put on these events," he said.
Earlier in the decade, the fireworks show was the only draw in Durango, but since then, a number of different organizations have come forward to sponsor events.
"We've sort of settled into a lineup where each activity is sponsored by somebody different," Kunkel said.
A reading of historical documents is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday in Buckley Park as part of the city's daylong celebration.
This year's Fourth of July may stand out compared with the usually dry weather Southwest Colorado normally experiences in early summer. A 30 percent chance of rain is forecast, and the temperature is expected to be 82 degrees.
The Fourth falls on a Saturday this year, but several local entities will offer employees the day off Friday. City Hall will be closed Friday, as will the city offices in River City Hall on Camino del Rio. La Plata County offices will be closed.
Trash, sewer, water and transit services will all operate on Friday, as will the Durango Public Library, but it will be closed Saturday. The Durango Community Recreation Center will be open regular hours Friday but will close at 4 p.m. Saturday, four hours early.
Most state and federal government offices will be closed on Friday as well.
The Durango Police Department and the Durango-La Plata County Airport will be unaffected by the federal holiday. The city will also keep a mechanic on the clock all day Friday in case a police cruiser or other city vehicle requires maintenance.
kburford@durangoherald.comHerald Staff Writer Garrett Andrews contributed to this report.
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Durango Herald Calendar of Events
