McLEANSBORO —
It’s called Freedom Fest — with an emphasis on free.
First General Baptist Church is putting on a communitywide Fourth of July event to celebrate the freedoms that U.S. citizens enjoy, and everything at the event — food, activities, music, giveaways — is free.
It’s no gimmick, the church’s pastor says.
“This is Christian service,” the Rev. Ken Cook said. “Doing something nice for people, and there’s no price tag.”
It all starts at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.
Food to be available includes barbecue pulled pork, hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream and drinks. In addition, there will be blow-up amusement activities, games and programs for children, including a planned appearance by the movie character Shrek; a flag ceremony on horseback; live music featuring Billboard hits from the 1960s to today; and prize giveaways throughout the afternoon.
Capping the event will be the annual fireworks display put on by the city of McLeansboro starting at 9 p.m. at the nearby city reservoir.
Mayor Dick Deitz promises that this year’s fireworks will be “bigger and better,” adding, “We’re expecting an overflow crowd.”
First General has been working in cooperation with the city on Freedom Fest, and Cook said he feels the event “brings more to what the city is doing.”
Freedom Fest is actually the culmination of a series of worship services at the church emphasizing freedom, he said. And the people on the church planning committee “really caught a vision early on” about the event, he said.
“We didn’t have a budget for this, but people who attend our church underwrote much of the cost,” Cook said.
Several businesses have also been generous in their support of the event, he said.
Freedom Fest is church outreach, but it’s also “kind of the antithesis of how society does things,” said Cook, who is in his 16th year as pastor at First General.
“As a pastor, one of the excuses I’ve heard is ‘All (the churches) want is money,’” he said.
“Well, this flies in the face of that.”
IF YOU GO:
• What: Freedom Fest Fourth of July celebration
• Where: Hamilton County Fairgrounds, on Illinois Route 14 West
• When: Sunday, July 4
• Etc: Event opens at 4 p.m.; flag ceremony on horseback at 6 p.m.; live music follows the flag ceremony and continues up to the start of the fireworks display at 9 p.m. at the city reservoir. Those attending are advised to bring lawn chairs.
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