In our Southern Oregon hub amidst a collection of smaller cities, Central Point, Oregon, was practically the only city fully invested in Independence Day celebrations. Controversial opinions and arguments ensued over COVID issues and the collection of masses of people at parades and fireworks that might start wildfires (a trauma from last fall, the Almeda Fire). All around us cities were canceling firework shows, parades, and any sort of celebrations as a community. Central Point stood strong and backed up concerns with valid research on the safety of all matters. Not to say there were any naysayers about all the activities, but the activities happened and they had triple the population of years prior because other areas were not providing the entertainment.
I love photographing these events, but a vast majority of the photography goes unseen. I photograph these events for the City of Central Point and The Central Point Chamber for marketing purposes. I’d love to share these photos with all of you. So feel free to use the photos for personal use and share about your business being at the parade. If you’re confused as to how you can use them, just ask.
Run 4 Freedom – Kids Fun Run by CP Parks & Rec
Events of the day kick off with a morning Kids Fun Run — Run 4 Freedom on the downtown strip, put on by Central Point Parks & Rec partnered with Crater Football there to lead and encourage the kiddos in the run. We normally have a 5k Run as well, but that was canceled this year.
libido-portugal.com
Then a Great Parade Put on by The Central Point Parks & Rec Crew
The parade kicks off traditionally with the Mayor’s vehicle followed by the chosen, “Grand Marshal,” at which they all pause for a singing of the National Anthem. This year’s Grand Marshal was the entire District 3 Fire Department, lead by our amazing Fire Chief, Bob Horton. A community grand marshal or other designations may be selected to lead the front of the parade and signifies great respect and honor. The significance of celebrating our entire fire district was a great choice. They had a long entourage of fire vehicles that sprayed everyone down with water, cooling us off!
The parade itself was missing a few significant floats, one, in particular, Dennis Richardson and Family used to always be a fun big production as a parade float. I hope the others that were missing will be back in the upcoming parade years to come. Outside of that, there were the usual fantastic bunch and some fun new ones. I have to say the newest addition, Babe Cave Beauty of Central Point, really stole my heart. What a great crew!
Head up to The Freedom Festival at Robert Pfaff Park put on by our Central Point Chamber
And finally, everyone heads up to the nicely shaded, Robert Pfaff Park a couple of blocks up from downtown. While this is already a popular post-parade event, the population density felt quadrupled in comparison with years past – Not to mention, 99.9% Mask-Free 👏🏼 (what a weird, refreshing scene!). I chatted with a few people downtown and many were coming from Eagle Point (about 10-miles out from Central Point). Apparently, Eagle Point did not do a parade, and Fireworks were canceled as well.
The Freedom Festival usually features a great band, this year was The Brothers Reed, with their fun and funky sound and witty humor. The park is bordered by some great food truck options and the well-known favorite of shaved ice treats, our local Kona Ice of SW Jackson Co. The Central Point Chamber handles the park party and added some hilarious, cheesy games that produced a lot of entertainment.
Matt’s Twin Creeks Firework Show — A FREE Lawn Show (but appreciates donations!) with Epic Booms! (click on any image to enlarge)
Matt Vranes and his family have been putting on this firework show now for 16-years! Twin Creeks is a pretty big neighborhood now, but back when it was being developed, there were a lot of open dirt lots, and Matt would get everyone involved to come out and enjoy a mini-show, and set off their own fireworks.. the entertainment and fireworks have only gotten bigger and bigger each year. Sadly 2020 was the break in the chain as with many events, but he pushed onward to make it happen this year despite many naysayers, insulting, and negative feedback regarding doing fireworks when our state is at high risk for wildfire danger. Without going into the nitty-gritty details of all that, Matt did his due diligence to prove that his show was nowhere near a risk to our city or surrounding lands. And the show was a total success, with another massive turnout. Consider donating to the fund!
This show cost $11,000 in Fireworks. Consider donating even $5-10 from many people can help offset the costs of this fun laid-back firework display event. Honestly, it can’t get better than lawn blankets and camp chairs laying back to enjoy the scene. My son, Dominic is pictured with the thumbs up. He was so invested in learning everything about how the fireworks are triggered and all the little details about building things, Matt let him light the first fuse. He couldn’t have asked for a better experience to top off being involved in this gig.
Matt has been building firework sets since he was a kid and this is by far one of the biggest highlights in his year. Matt also has a big family who has helped him put the show together…. however, he realized after ordering two huge pallets of fireworks with over 500 pounds of gunpowder, he was the only one available to assemble it all. By happenstance, I photograph his wife’s artwork (I have also known their family for years) and I was dropping off artwork on Tuesday before the weekend festivities… I asked how it was going with the show only to hear that he had NO HELP and was stressing hard about how to get it all done.
Good thing I’ve got a 13-year old boy with a pile of buddies to help. These boys were beyond excited to help and worked tirelessly for 3-days prior to the 4th of July to get it all done. Their trade of services was catered lunches and swimming parties after working in the heat all day — and of course the joy of building fireworks! Now we know we have a crew at least for the next 4-5 years.
Admittedly I do not have any fantastic firework display shots, honestly after working from 7:45 am shooting events in the heat through 1 pm then home to mass edit photos for the afternoon, then get out to the show, I’m kinda fried and just want to relax and enjoy it while it lasts. I look forward to next year and the epic additions Matt will add. (There is also a show at the Expo, but I am not involved in that one).
🇺🇸 I’m so happy to see our freedoms are feeling a little back to normal. Thank you to everyone who attended all these events to make this day a success!
