Silver Valley celebrates Independence Day
Photo courtesy of DENISE SMITH/ A plethora of fireworks go off above the heads of onlookers at the Independence Day celebration in Osburn. This event has been held annually in Osburn since 2004.
Photo by JOSH MCDONALD/ Grand marshal Stephen Shepperd leads the kids and pets parade that kicked off the festivities in Kellogg. The parade began and Silver Mountain and ended at the City Park.
Photo by JONNIE NELSON/ (From left) Chanse Watson, Toby Colburn, John Miller, Aaron Cagle and Quintin Kimberling hack and slash their way through a game of soap hockey. This particular game was the firefighter team vs. the Silver Mountain team.
Photo by TERESA MARIE/ A spontaneously formed girls team of (from left) Kayla Hamlin, Mikell Dela Cruz and Jonnie Nelson take on the Silver Mountain team consisting of Toby Colburn, Quintin Kimberling and Damien Spencer (not pictured).
Photo by CHANSE WATSON/ Jacque Jolens and the Last Chance Band preform at the Kellogg Independence Day event in the Kellogg City Park.
Photo by CHANSE WATSON/ Happy children scurry out to grab candy as the Wallace Statehood Day Parade rolls down Bank St. on July 3.
OSBURN – From Cataldo to Mullan, many of the Silver Valley’s residents were seen celebrating this July 4 in patriotic displays of shooting off fireworks, cooking on their grills, playing games and partaking in other outdoor activities.
Whether it was one of the several large events held in cities (some impromptu) or a small one at home, there was no shortage of places to enjoy America’s 242nd birthday in the community.
In Shoshone county’s largest city of Kellogg, Silver Mountain (with help from several other local businesses) held a large celebration in the City Park during the day and shot off fireworks from the Silver Mountain parking lot at night.
Attendees had the opportunity to start the day by enjoying a kids and pets parade that ended at the city park. The park itself was packed with entertainment for people of all ages.
Adults took their time perusing the many vendor booths set up and listening to some county music hits provided by Jacque Jolens and the Last Chance Band.
On top of the parade, kids were able to get their fill of fun by bouncing around in bounce houses, playing some old-fashioned games (such as the three-legged race, gunny sack race and a watermelon seed spitting contest) and taking a dip in the city pool which featured a small cannonball contest.
The daytime celebration also featured an exciting new event– soap hockey.
Curious (but throughly entertained) spectators watched as participants frantically slipped and slid on a soapy blue tarp, driven by the goal of being the first team to score five points on a small hockey net. The slippery tarp even served as a water slide for kids following the conclusion of the games.
Once the sun went down, an impressive fireworks display at Silver Mountain capped off the day of fun.
Silver Mountain General manager Jeff Colburn was happy with the Kellogg festivities.
“I was pleased so many people came down to enjoy the celebration. It was a fun afternoon and cool chance for the town to showcase all that is good about Kellogg and the Silver Valley,” he said. “Overall I thought it was a great party, the new pet and kid parade seemed to be a hit, Jacque Jolens and the Last Chance Band were awesome, lots of parents were having fun explaining to their kids how to do a gunny sack race or three legged race, Rick Gilbert and his Pryo team put on a wonderful display, and the soap tarp hockey was great fun and it appears it could grow to be an annual event.”
Colburn acknowledged of course that the event was a team effort.
“While Silver Mountain stepped in to get the plan in place and execute it, the party would not have happened without the generosity of several of the local businesses. Dave Smith Motors, Panhandle Linen, DG&S, Basin Resources and Kellogg Rotary all stepped up big to help out.”
A little further east, McGillivray Environmental owner and mayor Kip McGillivray hosted his 14th annual Fourth of July celebration at his shop in Osburn. McGillivray dedicated this year’s event to Pat Waters, who has had a friendly fireworks/Fourth of July rivalry with McGillivray in the past, but could not continue the tradition due to health issues.
The event kicked off at noon and sported a bounce house for kids, music for adults, and free hot dogs for all (plus other snacks as well).
Just after dusk, McGillivray and company let loose with a barrage of pyrotechnics that arguably rivaled several other larger displays in the region.
In addition to these two events, Smelterville residents were also treated to their own impressive fireworks show Wednesday night that centered around the Lifeline Coffee hut.
The day before the Fourth, the City of Wallace showed their American/State spirit by holding an Idaho Statehood Day parade through downtown. The short but exciting parade featured police vehicles, firetrucks, sporty UTVs, horses and some local candidates for public offices.
To top off all the excitement and fun that was had by many, it appears that mostly everyone celebrated responsibly; both with fireworks and with alcohol.
Idaho Department of Lands Fire Warden Kjell Truesdell reports that local fire crews were called to only one fireworks related wildfire on the Fourth. Crews with IDL and Shoshone County Fire District No. 2 responded to the fire in the area of Tamarack Ridge and contained it to a tenth of an acre.
On the law enforcement side of things, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jeremy Groves says that although deputies responded to several noise complaints, no arrests were made on Wednesday. Jail booking reports do indicate that one DUI arrest was made on July 5 by the Kellogg Police Department.