This post documents my experience on June 30, 2018.
When I got to the Ontario Fourth of July Festival…
…I thought that the deflated inflatables could be a sign that the festival hadn’t yet begun…
…even after arriving 40 minutes past the time indicated on the Facebook event.
This was only confirmed as I observed music stage soundchecks…
…petting zoo preparations…
…and an information/prize tent that just wasn’t ready.
Fortunately, most of the food vendors seemed ready to go…
…with menus that included wraps (Chaos Cafe)…
…brats (Ontario Lions Club)…
…funnel cakes, lemonade and Italian ice.
And there was a large kids’ area with Laser Tag…
…and pony rides that all seemed to be running…
…while an area in the back would later host a frog jump competition.
Elsewhere, tables were set up to talk to festival goers about security (Schmidt Security Pro)…
…insurance (Michael Lybarger)…
…and concealed handgun licenses (Mauk Tactical)…
…while Mix 106 played some tunes…
…the Ontario PD gave out free child ID bands…
…and volunteers considered opening the dunk tank early on such a hot summer day.