Riverfest draws large crowd to Snake River Landing

People packed the Snake River Landing for Riverfest. There were activities for kids, a variety of foods and even a few animals. Families being together is one of the highlights of the day.

“My favorite part about the 4th of July is that the family’s are together,” said Laura Pennock, who runs a face painting tent at Riverfest. “Everybody gets work off cause everything closes and there’s not a lot of stress. You go to the parade, you go and watch the fireworks, but for the most part people are just hanging out with their kids and enjoying the day.”

Marines were there helping potential future recruits. Many people honored the military for their service to the country.

“I’m very thankful for all the armed forces and what they do to give us freedom,” said Lexi Niederer.

“A lot of people have given up their lives so that we can have the life that we have,” said Don Knighton. “So, we oughta honor them and what they gave up so that we can have what we have.”

Overall, today was a celebration of the freedom’s given to us over 200 years ago.

“Freedom I feel like for me in my life is the freedom to make my life whatever I want it to be,” Pennock said. “So, it isn’t just that I don’t have a king telling me what to do, but I don’t have anybody telling me what to do. And I love feeling independent as a woman, I love feeling independent as a parent.”

The Melaleuca Freedom Celebration fireworks is scheduled to start around 10 p.m.