Towns Plan July 4th Festivities

Patriotism is alive and well in the towns of Coastal NC here are a couple of examples of the planned festivities…

SOUTHPORT, NC:

The 37th annual North Carolina Fourth of July Festival will be held in Southport, NC on July 1-4, 2009! The first Independence Day Celebration in Southport, called the “Festival of Free Men”, occurred 214 years ago. Ever since, the community has maintained a strong tradition of celebrating the 4th of July with appropriate activities and observances.

The Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce sponsors this yearly event.

It all starts on Oak Island with Beach Day on July 1st and winds up with a fantastic fireworks display on the Southport waterfront on the evening of July 4th. There is something for everybody during this exciting and patriotic Festival.

Come celebrate our freedom during the 4th of July parade in Southport, NC, honor our veterans during the Veterans Recognition Ceremony at the Southport Community Building, and welcome new citizens at the ever-popular Naturalization Ceremony at Fort Johnston.

Come enjoy the arts and crafts as well as great entertainment on the waterfront stage and let the kids enjoy the many children’s activities scheduled throughout the Festival. And participate in flag ceremonies that remind us that freedom is never free.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC:

Don’t miss this year’s 4th of July Parade at Ocean Isle Beach.

This year Ocean Isle Beach will celebrate Independence Day with its seventh annual Fourth of July Parade, sponsored by the Ocean Isle Property Owners Association.

The parade will actually be held on Sunday July 5th so as not to conflict with in-coming traffic on Saturday the 4th.

The parade now draws locals and visitors with as more than 700 people participating in the parade last year with even more people lining the streets and watching.

The parade will begin at 2 p.m. on the Fifth and will be led by mayor Debbie Smith.
Participants are to meet in the Museum of Coastal Carolina parking lot at 1:30 p.m. There is no official registration and no fee to march in the parade.

Entries will be judged in four categories—golf carts, floats, walkers and bicycles. Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishers, but patriotic favors and flags will be distributed to all participants. Judging will take place five minutes prior to the parade.

PARADE ROUTE
Parade participants will turn left onto Second Street from the museum parking lot.
The parade will continue down Second Street to LaGrange Street, where participants will turn right, and then turn right on First Street. The parade will continue up First Street to Halifax Street and then back onto Second Street to the museum. There is no parking allowed along the parade route.

CALABASH, NC:

Celebrate our Independence at The 4th of July Party Friday, July 3 on Calabash NC Riverfront!

It all starts at 7:00pm. Bring a lawn chair and enjoy live entertainment by local band Jaded Mayberry at 7:00pm.
Then at 8:00pm watch the<em> Just For Kicks Dance Routine</em>

At 9:30 there will be a spectacular Fireworks Display. All the while you can participate in raffles and drawings. For more info, call the Calabash Town Hall at 579-6747

White Ibis Island Sanctuary

Battery Island, located just off of Southport, NC in the Cape Fear River, is home to the largest White Ibis nesting population in southeastern North Carolina. For many years, this 100-acre Audubon Sanctuary has been the site of North Carolina’s largest gathering of breeding wading birds. Herons, egrets, and ibises flock to the island by the thousands each spring. Since 1982, the island has been guarded and protected by the National Audubon Society.

Each year, between 9,000 and 15,000 breeding pairs of white ibises, nearly all that nest in the state, as well as hundreds of breeding pairs of herons and egrets, descend on the Sanctuary to nest and raise their young. The island has always been vital to North Carolina’s wading bird population and, recently, was designated as “globally important” for the great numbers of white ibises that nest on the island every year. (Approximately 12% of the global white ibis population nests at Battery Island.)

In 1996 the Cape Fear Garden Club of Wilmington, NC stepped forward to officially adopt the sanctuary and assist with the protection and management of the island. Since that time, the Cape Fear Garden Club has donated more than $20,000 in support of this Audubon Sanctuary.

Battery Island is posted and patrolled throughout the year, and is off-limits to visitors. Protecting the island, the nesting birds and their habitats is essential to conserving wading birds in North Carolina. The Cape Fear Garden Club offers a guided boat tour of the sanctuary every spring, check their website for more details.

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