BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Community members gathered at the Callaway Recreational Center to celebrate the city’s first Independence Day event.
This comes after community members recommended a get-together for the holiday at previous city commission meetings.
“We just decided other cities do 4th of July events. Ours may not be quite as big. You know, we’re not going to do fireworks tonight, but we’ve got a bouncy house, and waterslide for the kids,” Callaway Mayor Pamn Henderson said.
With Callaway being a military community, it was natural for the city to find a way of showing its support. The festivities began with a US Air Force flyover and live music from Linda and the Witch Doctor.
“We’ve got the fire department doing their agility course for the kids. We just want the kind of day where people can come out, socialize, have a good time, and then they can go see fireworks tonight,” Henderson said.
Volunteers have been working to transform the center into a festive hub of red, white, and blue.
“We’ve got a lot of city employees, we do have some other volunteers over here. I think the entire commission is here to do you know, do what we can cook hotdogs, wrap them drinks, whatever,” Henderson added.
Eventgoers said they are happy the city answered their request for a Fourth of July event.
“That was my recommendation at the commission. The city of Callaway is growing tremendously. And I thought it was time for us to go ahead and celebrate the 4th of July. We do veterans and kite day and everything else, but since we’ve grown, it was time for us to do this,” Bay County Commissioner Bob Pelletier said.
Many of those who are based at Tyndall are also residents.
“We’re we’re noticing the military families that are here. I’m sure we have a lot of veterans a lot of current military. So it’s it’s nice,” eventgoer Jennifer Dudley said.
Mayor Henderson said the city hopes to hold the Fourth of July event every year.
