CRESTLINE — The second annual Crestline Freedom Celebration is scheduled for Saturday, July 3 at Central Park on Seltzer Street. Events will begin at 6 p.m.
Organizers said the evening festival serves both as an opportunity for local residents to celebrate America and to showcase what’s happening in the Village of Crestline.
“I think now more than ever after the pandemic, it’s important that we do these things,” said Clayton Herold, a member of the Crestline Community Development Team, which is co-sponsoring the event with the Crestline Lions Club. “I think a lot more people are taking pride in our community because they’ve seen a lot of the positivity that’s going on in Crestline. We’ve got a really good push with what the Community Development Team’s doing, what local business owners are doing downtown, what the village has done to hopefully bring Amtrak here in a few years — just a lot of great momentum is happening in Crestline.
“This is just another event we can provide our residents. Hopefully, folks from the outside will see what we’re doing in Crestline and want to come move here and join in what we’re doing.”
The United Way of North Central Ohio is sponsoring a Patriotic Bike Contest. Winners will be chosen in the following age groups: 4 and younger, 5-7, 8-10, and 11-12. Participants will line up their entries in front of the Gazebo at Central Park on Seltzer Street. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Following the bike contest, the Red, White, and Blue Dog Costume Contest will be conducted in front of the Central Park Gazebo. That contest is sponsored by Susan’s Doggy Spa and is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. The top dog will receive a free spa service at Susan’s Doggy Spa. The runnerup will get a 50% discount on a spa service.
The Crestline Lions Club is sponsoring a Patriotic Car Decorating Contest and Shooting the Loop from 8 to 9 p.m. Participants are asked to line up at 7:45 p.m. on Seltzer Street in front of the Central Park Gazebo. No politicalsigns, flags, and banners are allowed in the contest or the parade.
The community fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. The fireworks will be shot off from old Hutson Stadium. Herold said the stadium will be closed to spectators during the fireworks display. The Crestline Lions Club is sponsoring the display.
Herold said a 50/50 raffle will be conducted during the celebration. Tickets cost $1 each or 6 for $5. The winner will be drawn at 9 p.m. at the Central Park Gazebo.
Herold said visitors to the celebration will have a variety of food options available to them. The Crestline Community Development Team is providing hotdogs, chips, and water for a donation. Triple D Concessions will be set up in the Park National Bank customer parking lot. Depot Deli will have BBQ pork tenderloin sandwiches and ice cream for sale. Mi Cerrito Mexican Restaurant will be open that evening and Checkers Pizza will be serving food.
Musical entertainment will be provided by the band Yak Pack. Sponsored by First Federal Community Bank, the band will perform until 9 p.m. at the Central Park Gazebo.
The lineup of events also includes the following activities:
• Robyn Almanson Photography photo booth for patriotic photos at The Hub
• Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce will hand out glow sticks to kids until 8 p.m.
• New Beginnings Family Farm and Crawford County Denim and Paws petting zoo
• Local churches will have games set up for kids
• Crestline Historical Society booth selling various items
• Crestline Police and Fire Departments selling gun raffle tickets
• Rock and clay pot painting
• Face painting
• Cornhole
The Crestline Community Development Team and Crestline Lions Club are sponsoring the event.
For information about the Crestline Freedom Celebration, visit the Crestline Community Development Team’s page on Facebook.
In case of bad weather on July 3, the event will be staged on Monday, July 5.
