Corvettes drive in the 2019 Akron Fourth of July parade. The Akron Chamber of Commerce has set the start of the parade as 2 p.m. for this year’s Fourth of July festival on Sunday, July 4. InkFreeNews file photo.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

AKRON — The Akron Chamber of Commerce is progressing with plans for the town’s Fourth of July festival.

During a meeting on Thursday, May 6, organizers set the times for the festival.

Here is the plan for Sunday, July 4:

• 7-10 a.m. Firemen’s breakfast at the fire station;
• 9 a.m. Flag raising at fire station, followed by the announcement of the cute baby contest winners;
• 10:30 a.m. Community church service at Pike Memorial Park;
• Noon-2 p.m. Parade setup;
• 2 p.m. Parade;
• 7-10 p.m. Entertainment at Pike Memorial Park;
• 10 p.m. Fireworks at Pike Memorial.

The queen competition and Miss Sparkler and Mr. Firecracker competition are to be Sunday, June 27, and the Akron Las Donas’ Firecracker 5K is to be on Saturday, July 3.

4th Theme

Also related to the Fourth, meeting attendees discussed a theme.

Lori Tilden-Geiger said the churches putting on the community church service had chosen “Together We Rise” as a theme for the service.

“It’s really honoring our settlers and the adversity that they had to come through to build a community but also it’s (for) the present, the adversity we’ve just been through and to get our community together,” she said.

Attendees agreed to use that theme.

In other business, attendees:

• Heard there are now 42 chamber members.
• Were reminded again about the town’s annual community-wide garage sale on Saturday, May 15. It’s from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The firemen are having a pancake and sausage breakfast that morning from 7-10 a.m. at the fire station to raise funds for Class A dress uniforms. There will be both in-person dining and a to-go option.

The chamber’s next meeting is 8 p.m. Thursday, June 3. The Zoom link to it will be published on the chamber’s Facebook page before the meeting for anyone to attend.