State celebration
Glorious Fourth
to be celebrated
Celebration of the Fourth of July
in Southport dates to the immediate
post-Revolutionary War period,
when citizens of Smithville, as
Southport was then known, would
gather in the town square to offer
up toasts to the new American way
of life and to the men who fought to
wrestle independence from the
Crown.
To say celebration of the Fourth of
July in Southport is a tradition is to
understate the obvious. The patriot
ic citizens of Southport have contin
ued to host formal celebrations of
Independence Day through the
years and the modern-day N. C.
Fourth of July Festival is now the
official state observance of this most
precious of American holidays.
The 1998 N. C. Fourth of July
Festival promises to uphold the fine
tradition of Southport celebrations
and may possibly be one of the best
in its long history.
Long-time festival volunteer Bette
Leggett will step in as president for
1998. And, the Southport-Oak Island
Chamber of Commerce will lend its
administrative talent to the event.
"This is going to be the best, the
most patriotic, festival ever," said
chamber executive vice-president
Karen Sphaf "This festival will fea
ture the best of the best and the
most of the most. Bette Leggett's
enthusiasm for Southport and for
the N. C. Fourth of July Festival is
contagious and has spread to the
entire festival committee."
The festival of 1998 is of special
significance to its organizing com
mittee. Festival organizers this year
have dedicated the 1998 festival to
the memory of long-time board
member and treasurer Alneta
Crowe, who lost her long battle
with cancer earlier this year.
Festival activities actually begin
well before the Fourth of July week
end with the June 13 Patriots Ball, a
tribute to those individual commu
nity contributors who are the finan
cial backbone of the N. C. Fourth of
July Festival. The event will be held
dockside at Southport Marina, with
live entertainment and plenty of
good food. More information is
available from the chamber of com
merce office, 457-6964.
The festival will kick-off in earnest
with a grand opening ceremony
Wednesday, July 1.
On Thursday, July 2, streets will
fill with visitors to downtown
Southport, but much of the action
will move to the Oak Island obser
vance of Beach Day, with surfing,
volleyball, horseshoe and watermel
on-eating contests scheduled at the
Long Beach cabana.
Southport will be the venue for a
late-aftemoon July 2 Naturalization
Ceremony on the Garrison at Fort
Johnston. Last year nearly 50 new
Americans took the oath of citizen
ship in Southport as part of N. C.
Fourth of July Festival activities.
July 2 will conclude with a
Middleton Park beach music concert
by North Carolina's best-loved
band, The Embers, who will return
the evening of July 4 to play the fes
tival's concluding concert at the foot
of Southport's Howe Street over
See Fourth, next page
Southport remembers the true meaning of Independence Day
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