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Entertainment, fireworks planned for Fourth of July

By Lisa Majors-Duff
Smoky Mountain Drum'n Bass Photo by Nick Breedlove

Jackson County's own Smoky Mountain Drum'n Bass will headline Sylva's Fourth of July celebration Tuesday on Main Street. The band, which includes, from left, Jonathan Wertheim, Brooks Butler, Ian Moore, Kyle Huff, Henry Queen, Scott Denmon and Eric Mrozkowski, will take the First Union stage at 7:30 p.m. Other entertainers scheduled include the Willing Servants at 5 p.m. and Southernbourne at 6 p.m. Other festivities planned include a checkers tournament, bingo, Oreo-stacking contest and watermelon seed-spitting contest.

In honor of our country's 224th birthday, area residents and visitors alike have been invited to downtown Sylva Tuesday for bingo, brownies and bluegrass.

Festivities get under way at 5 p.m. when the Willing Servants, Sylva performers of gospel and bluegrass, take the stage in the First Union parking lot. Also at 5 p.m. bingo balls will roll with caller Col. Dodie Allen in the First Citizens parking lot. Games will be called until prizes expire, said SPIR promotions chairman Joyce Moore.

In addition to bingo, SPIR will sponsor a traditional bake and beverage sale, with funds going to downtown Sylva's continued revitalization effort. Mill Street is next on the agenda for a face lift, SPIR members say, and all downtown merchants have been asked to supply baked goods for the sale. Engraved bricks will also be available for those who would like to leave their mark on Sylva.

Other food options available from vendors downtown will include hot dogs and homemade ice cream at First Baptist Church, barbecue and vegetarian sandwiches from Spring Street Cafe and Ronnie Duncan's pork skins, funnel cakes and cotton candy.

Entertainment will continue with Southernbourne, a traditional bluegrass band from Asheville, taking the stage at 6 p.m. Coinciding with the performance, a contest to declare checker champion bragging rights starts in the First Union parking lot. Youth and adult division will be played until a winner is crowned.

An Oreo-stacking contest will be offered for youth only beginning at 7 p.m., following by a watermelon seed-spitting contest for youth and adults at 8 p.m. Prizes will be awarded in each of the three contests, which are being sponsored by the Jackson County Recreation and Parks Department.
Smoky Mountain Drum 'n Bass, the local band that was such a phenomenal success during Greening Up the Mountains earlier this spring, hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Self-described as "mountain music meets big city boogie," members plan to perform until about 9 p.m.

To accommodate visitors, vendors and performers, the block between Landis and Spring streets in downtown Sylva will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at about 4 p.m., said Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs to enjoy the music.

As always, fireworks will be shot from the lawn of the old Jackson County Courthouse at dark, weather permitting. Just prior to the fireworks display, all of Main Street will be closed to vehicles, with detour routes to follow Dillsboro Road. Also, those in the audience are asked to stay at least 420 feet from the courthouse steps.

"Those not far enough way could hold up the fireworks show," said Jeff Carpenter, rec department director. "Everyone needs to be beyond the traffic light at Wachovia."

Personal fireworks in the vicinity of the rec department display could also delay the show, he said.

Carpenter added that the success of the Fourth of July events downtown relies on the support his department receives from Sylva's fire and police departments, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the Rescue Squad.

"We couldn't do it without these folks," he said.

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