Belhaven celebrates Fourth of July

Published 1:08 am Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Town of Belhaven will enjoy its 69th Fourth of July Celebration and Parade this weekend.

The event involves extensive participation and involvement from the mayor-appointed Celebration Committee that plans a year in advance.

Lisa Harris co-chairs the Belhaven Celebration Committee with Paul Wood, a Belhaven town official.

Harris explained what the committee does to prepare.

“You have to apply as much as a year before with the military to get the color guard,” she said.  “It goes in a pool and you get pulled out of that. The venues for the big bands are booked early. The carnivals are booked a year in advance. We also have between 30 and 50 vendors and we organize where they go. Vendors pay a rental spot for however many days they plan to be at the event and the size of their location.”

Funding comes mainly from a Celebration Committee sponsor letter sent out to local businesses.

The Celebration Committee is comprised of 10 members, with six being appointed by the mayor.

Harris stressed that the committee involves effort from inside and outside of town.

“I live outside of the town of Belhaven as do two other members. The fire department helped with some of the money issues related to the event. It is really part of a whole community working together to make it happen. “

Harris said 10,000 to 15,000 people attend for the food, fireworks, and fun. Many of them come from out of state.

“Belhaven has the largest continual celebration of the Fourth of July in the state,” she said.

Two beauty pageants, the Miss Independence Scholarship Pageant and the Little Miss Independence Scholarship Pageant, are also a big part of the celebration.

The pageants are currently organized by past contestants.

Participants in the Miss Independence Pageant event have to gather ads from local businesses in preparation for a promotional booklet for the pageant.

Participants also have to maintain a cumulative 3.0 grade point average.

The pageant involves a variety of events, such as an evening gown and a bathing suit competition.

The Little Miss Independence Pageant involves similar events that serve the purpose of showcasing the participants’ talents. The winner receives a savings bond to be used at their discretion.

The winner of the Miss Independence Pageant has to participate in a charity event the following year and participate in other events as requested by the Town of Belhaven. The winner receives a $1,000 scholarship for the school of her choice.

She also emcees the Little Miss Independence Pageant the following year.

Beaufort County supports the festivities in terms of participation from county commissioners but does not allocate funds from the county budget for the event.

The money raised from the celebrations goes to fund the expenses for next year’s event.

The annual fireworks display will be run by Zambelli Fireworks, a company based in New Castle, Penn., this year.

The hiring of  Zambelli was brought on in part by problems stemming from a previous fireworks accident at Ocracoke.