Fourth of July celebration roundup

YAKIMA, Wash. -- This weekend several communities will be celebrating the Fourth of July.  Here's a roundup of activites around the Yakima Valley.

FRIDAY, July 3

• At Yakima County Stadium you can lead off the Fourth of July weekend with the great American pastime: watching a baseball game while polishing off a couple of hot dogs and downing a frosty beer or two.

The Yakima Bears celebrate Independence Day with two-for-one tickets for all military personnel and veterans at Friday night’s game against the Spokane Indians. The first pitch is at 7:05.

Also, various military branches will have equipment on display in the parking lot and concourse areas, and there’ll be live music from 6 to 7 and post-game fireworks.

Tickets cost $4.50 to $9.50 and are available through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.com, 800-325-7328, the Bears office, 509-457-5151, or at the gate.

Info: Visit www.yakimabears.com.

• Also Friday is the third annual Naches Valley Independence Day Festival. It runs from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and includes live music alternating every half hour with a Guitar Hero contest, food vendors and a beer garden at Cleman’s View Sports Park off U.S. Highway 12.

A professional fireworks display begins at dusk, around 10 p.m. Parking costs $5 and admission is free.

While this year’s festival is only one day — and no personal fireworks will be allowed at the celebration — a flea market runs Friday through Monday at the sports park.

Info: Visit www.nachesvalleychamber.com.

FRIDAY, July 3 through SUNDAY, July 5

• If you’d like to make a toast to the “big birthday,” a number of Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail wineries in Zillah are hosting the Red, White and Blues Festival Friday through Sunday. Participating wineries will have live music, food vendors and crafts.

The main event is Saturday evening at Silver Lake Winery and features a barbecue dinner, live blues-rock music by the Coyote Kings and a prime spot for viewing fireworks displays across the Valley. You’ll also have a chance to visit with many of the winemakers from the Rattlesnake Hills wineries. Tickets cost $45 and include dinner, the concert and a souvenir wine glass. Tickets are available through www.localwineevents.com, www.shopwineyakima.com or at the door.

Daytime activities are free.

Here’s the music schedule:

• 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday: Just Us at Piety Flats.

• 6-9 p.m. Friday: Rod Giles Band at Paradisos del Sol.

• 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday: Darnell Scott and Desert Blues at Tefft Cellars.

• Noon-3 p.m. Saturday: BBQ II Blues Band at Knight Hill Winery.

• 1-4 p.m. Saturday: Rävinwolf at Silver Lake Winery at Roza Hills.

• 3-6 p.m. Saturday: Ben Johnson Blues Duo at Bonair Winery.

• 7-11 p.m. Saturday: Coyote Kings at Silver Lake Winery at Roza Hills. (21 and over only.)

• Noon-4 p.m. Sunday: Stan Fortier at Masset Winery.

Info: Call Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail at 509-965-4521 or visit www.rattlesnakehills.com.

• If you’re looking to get away this weekend, Suncadia resort in Cle Elum has a number of July Fourth festivities planned for Friday through Sunday:

• 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday — Suncadia Brewmaster’s Dinner at The Gas Lamp Grill, featuring Matt Thompson of Rogue Ales & Spirits. To RSVP, call 509-649-6473.

• 4-9 p.m. Saturday — Carnival games, field games, music, watermelon eating contests and other activities at the Suncadia Village Amphitheater.

• 4-9 p.m. Saturday — Suncadia Brews, Burgers & Brats at the Suncadia Village Amphitheater featuring beer from California’s Lagunitas Brewing Co., and bratwurst from Glondo’s Sausage Co. in Cle Elum.

• 7:3-11 a.m. Sunday — The Runner Stumbles 10k run and 5k run/walk; begins at Dawson Park. To register, visit www.active.com.

Suncadia is at 3320 Suncadia Trail in Cle Elum (take the Roslyn/Salmon La Sac exit of Interstate-90).

Info: Visit www.suncadia.com.

SATURDAY, July 4 and SUNDAY, July 5

• Also in Cle Elum is the Pioneer Days celebration sponsored by the Cle Elum-Roslyn Chamber of Commerce. Events include a parade beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday followed by the daylong Taste of the Valley Street Fair in downtown Cle Elum and fireworks around 10 p.m.

On Sunday, several other organizations are hosting a fishing derby, pancake breakfast and bocci ball tournament.

Event list/info: Call the chamber of commerce at 509-674-5958 or visit www.cleelumroslyn.org.

SATURDAY, July 4

• The Washington Fruit Place at Barrett Orchards, 1209 Pecks Canyon Road, will hold its annual cherry festival Saturday.

The fun includes U-pick cherries from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., a cherry pit spitting contest for all ages at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., a cherry pie-eating contest for kids at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and hay rides all day.

Visitors should park across the street at the Yakima Adventist Christian School and hop on the hay wagon for a free ride.

Info: Call 509-966-1275 or visit www.treeripened.com.

• In downtown Naches on Saturday, you can start off your Fourth with a pancake feed from 6 a.m. to noon, followed by a open classic car show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (registration starts at 7 a.m.), a flag-raising ceremony at noon, all-day entertainment on the gazebo stage, live music in the 1885 Bar and Grill beer garden, food vendors, kids events and bingo. Admission is free.

Info: Call 509-653-1777 or 509-930-3583.

• In Toppenish, you can ring in the Fourth in Old West-style during the Wild West Parade, which begins at 11 a.m. and runs through downtown Toppenish.

Although the Toppenish Powwow and Rodeo is on hiatus for a second year, you can still catch bareback, saddle and barrel racing, as well as wild cow milking, at the Broncs and Bulls Rodeo at the Toppenish Rodeo Grounds. The cowboys bust from behind the shoot starting at 8 p.m.

Cost is $8 in advance through the Toppenish Chamber of Commerce or $10 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free with an adult paid admission.

Info: Call the Toppenish Chamber of Commerce at 865-3262 or visit www.toppenish.net.

• Also in Toppenish, there’ll be a fireworks display at the Yakama Nation Legends Casino, 580 Fort Road, beginning at dusk. Admission is free.

Info: Call 509-865-8800 or visit www.legendscasino.com.

• In Granger, the annual Dino-Mite Fourth professional fireworks display begins at 10 p.m. in Hisey “Dinosaur” Park.

Info: Call 509-854-2770.

• Prosser will host its annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration beginning with a kiddie parade at 11 a.m., which takes off from the courthouse on Market Street and ends at Prosser City Park on Sommers Avenue.

Here, activities run until 3 p.m. and include a car show, old-fashioned games, bingo, food vendors and live entertainment.

The Prosser Rotary Club will sponsor a fireworks display at dusk, about 9:45 p.m., at Prosser High School’s Art Fiker Stadium.

Info: Call the Prosser Chamber of Commerce at 509-786-3177 or visit www.prosserchamber.org.

• The Ellensburg Daily Record’s annual Fourth of July Celebration begins at 5:30 p.m. in West Ellensburg Neighborhood Park, where there’ll be food vendors, bouncy toys for the kids, a mechanical bull, a junior rodeo, kids crafts, a pie eating contest, live band and ticket sales for the Duck Drop raffle. The fireworks display begins at 10 p.m. Admission is free.

Info: Call the Daily Record at 509-925-1414.

• Daytrippers and art lovers can celebrate the Fourth at the Maryhill Museum of Art, off Washington Scenic Route 14, just west of U.S. Highway 97 south of Goldendale. Here’s what the museum has planned for Saturday:

• 9 a.m.-8 p.m. — Museum open. Children under 17 will be admitted free with one paid adult admission.

• 5-8 p.m. — Picnic dinner. Food will be available to purchase or bring your own.

• 5-8 p.m. — Flag-making activity for kids and Smokey Bear will share fire safety tips.

• 6-11 p.m. — Live music by Gorge Winds (6 p.m.) and Joannie’s Jazz (7 p.m.), followed by a laser light show (10 p.m.) on the grand lawn. Free.

Museum admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $2 for ages 6-16 and free for 5 and younger.

Info: Call 509-773-3733 or visit www.maryhillmuseum.org.

• In Grandview, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting its annual flag-raising ceremony at 9 a.m. at Stokely Square on West Second Street.

Activities include a 21-gun salute, patriotic music from the Columbia Patriot Band out of Richland and an announcement of new Eagle Scouts.

This year, Grandview native and World War II fighter pilot Milton H. Ramsey will be recognized. His nephew, Fred Ramsey, will share the story of how his uncle made his way to England after his plane was shot down over France.

A free continental breakfast will follow.

• Unfortunately, the Sunnyside Lions Club will not be hosting its annual fireworks display because of a drop in funding and community support. The club hopes to bring back the fireworks next year.

ON WORLD, ONE VALLEY, ONE NATION

The annual One World, One Valley, One Nation celebration of diversity and independence runs from noon to midnight Saturday at State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. Admission and parking are free.

The event, sponsored by the Yakima Herald-Republic, includes food vendors, information booths, plenty of activities for the family, and the popular H2O cool-down courtesy of the Yakima Fire Department fire truck’s giant spray nozzle.

New this year is dirt track racing presented by the Yakima Racers Association. Engines will rev from noon to 3 p.m.

During the day there’ll also be hands-on kids activities and face painting from 1 to 6 p.m., a learning-is-cool exhibition from the Pacific Science Center, and carnival rides, which run throughout the weekend. The carnival starts at 5 p.m. Thursday, 3 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday.

As for live entertainment, there’ll be a karaoke stage and seven hours of acts on the main stage leading up to the fireworks display.

Here’s the main stage schedule:

• 3 p.m. — Los Bailadores del Sol (Mexican folk dancing).

• 4:15 p.m. — Pacific Science Center’s “Super Cool” liquid hydrogen show.

• 5:15 p.m. — New Northwest Broadcasters karaoke finals.

• 6 p.m. — The Village Musicians (teen pop-rock trio).

• 7:15 p.m. — Positive Life Radio presents Jeremy Riddle (contemporary Christian artist).

• 8:45 p.m. — New Northwest Broadcasters presents Jamie Lee Thurston (country artist).

• 9:50 p.m. — Color guard and the national anthem sung by the Fourth of July Idol (chosen by event organizers), followed by a fireworks show at 10 p.m. (Tune in to 105.7 BOB FM for synchronized patriotic music set to accompany the fireworks program.)

While parking is free, it does fill up fast. As in years past, Yakima Transit will offer park-and-ride bus services to State Fair Park from Eisenhower High School, Selah Junior High School and the Gateway Center (where Target is located). Buses will run continuously from 3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. A $1 donation is suggested.

For more information, visit www.yakima4thofjuly.org.