Published: July 04, 2009 11:36 pm      

Alderson festivities

ALDERSON — It’s billed as “West Virginia’s largest Independence Day celebration.” Thousands gather every Fourth of July weekend to enjoy the music, the parade and the fireworks in this river town that straddles Greenbrier and Monroe counties.

Saturday morning, as the starting time for the grand parade approached, clusters of people, standing and seated in folding chairs, filled every available space along the Riverside Drive/W.Va. 12 parade route. The crowd cheered the prettiest floats, snappiest fire trucks and sleekest horses as they slowly proceeded down the street and across the Greenbrier River.

Theresa Massey, secretary of the Fourth of July committee, said while the parade crowd this year was impressive, more people would gather in the evening for the spectacular fireworks display staged by the Alderson Volunteer Fire Department.

“This year, it cost over $13,000 for the ground and aerial fireworks,” she said. That figure includes both the Saturday show and a smaller display tonight.

Plenty of work goes into the planning of an event this size. “We have our first meeting for the following year’s celebration in November,” Massey noted. “By May, we’re meeting two times a month ...”

Thirty-year residents of Alderson, Massey and her husband, Gordon, really get into the spirit of the Independence Day celebration, trimming their Johnson Street home with red, white and blue decorations and hosting a post-parade luncheon for friends and family.

For Emerson “Willie” Williams, the festivities provided an opportunity to showcase his latest literary work, the novel “Sinkhole Justice,” a sequel to his well received “Roaring Creek.” Both books are set in West Virginia, said Williams, a native of Trout in Greenbrier County.

“I’ve been coming to the celebration for about 39 years, and I thought it might be a good idea to set up out here,” Williams said, referring to the front lawn of his brother-in-law’s home, where he had a display of the novels set up on a small table.

Tamarack just accepted “Sinkhole Justice” for sale, Williams revealed. It is also available at The Open Book in Lewisburg, Alderson’s Store and Wolf Creek in Alderson, online and through both the Williamsburg and Greenbrier historical societies.

“My next book will be about Capt. Jack Williams, the man Williamsburg is named after,” the author added.

Karen Boyd and her young granddaughter, Mikayla Abalos, staked out a prime location to view the parade, continuing an annual tradition.

“This parade is the best in the world,” Boyd proclaimed. “I’ve got great pictures from past years.”

Mikayla, attired in an eye-catching Uncle Sam-type star-spangled top hat, said her favorite parts of the parade are “the cars, the horses and the band.”

This was only the second year for Theresa Shafran to attend the celebration. She and her family moved to Sam Black Church from Albany, N.Y., only recently.

“You have to go to the city — Manhattan — for a big celebration and parade like this,” Shafran said of her former home. “This is great.”

The Independence Day celebration continues today with a whitewater canoe race at noon at Fort Spring and river events at Alderson Mini Park at 1 p.m. A double-elimination horseshoe tournament will get under way at 2 p.m., and there’s plenty of music planned for Memorial Field beginning at 4 p.m. The weekend’s second fireworks display is set for 9:45 p.m.

Ducks on the Greenbrier, a rubber ducky race, will close out the festivities at 6 p.m. Monday. The grand prize is $5,000, and tickets are still on sale.

— E-mail: talvey@register-herald.com