By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The mountain communities – from Crestline to Green Valley Lake – will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America in style all weekend long.
Crestline
Jamboree Days this year, with its theme of “Purple Mountains Majesty,” is celebrating both the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 120th anniversary of the naming of Crestline.
The celebration will begin on Friday, July 3 at noon at Lake Gregory when KOLA Radio will be simulcasting from the North Shore beach until 2 p.m. There will be games and prizes for those participating and they will give updates over the air of the Jamboree Days events, held on Friday and Saturday. This weekend of activities in Crestline was recognized by AAA’s Westways Magazine as one of the “Five Worth the Drive” activities for this month.
Lake Gregory will be open until 5 p.m. when the North Shore parking lot will close. The lake gates will reopen at 6 p.m. for shore watching of the fireworks. All sides of the lake are available for fireworks viewing except for the North Shore beach.
The fifth annual viewing party will take place from 630 until 10 p.m. with dinner, music and the fireworks show on the North Shore patio terrace; RSVPs are required at www.lakegregory.com. Other North Shore viewing opportunities, such as the floating cabanas, are available by visiting the same website.
The Market at Lake Gregory will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Leisure Shores parking lot at the east end of Lake Gregory near the San Moritz Meadow with the public invited. Parking for the Market will be available at the Lake Gregory Community Center/ROW District Office parking lot. The 710 Love Street Band, a tribute band to the Grateful Dead, and will be playing until 8:30 p.m., getting the crowd ready for the 9 p.m. fireworks which will be shot over Lake Gregory from the lake’s South Shore beach area.
An even bigger crowd is expected at this year’s Jamboree Days as folks celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
Parking to view the fireworks show, which is free, is available along the roads, as the lake is very visible from many places in the community. But officials request that vehicles do not block any roads, as the fire department needs to be able to drive through the streets in case of a dropped spark. Many homes that overlook the lake will host fireworks viewing parties.
The next morning, Saturday, July 4, at 10 a.m., is the beginning of the Jamboree Days parade, sponsored by Yuhaaviatam of San Manual Nation. The parade will wind its way through the streets of Crestline from the Top Town area, beginning on Crest Forest Drive going east from the fire station, to Fern Drive, then turning north at Triangle Park onto Fern going downhill to Lake Drive and continuing downhill onto Lake Drive and continuing through Lake Gregory Village to Lake Gregory, where it disbands. In the parade will be Uncle Sam, Betsy Ross, Lady Liberty and many other patriotic symbols.
Bill Mellinger, the Crestline Citizen of the Year, will be honored, riding in a car waving and welcoming everyone to Crestline and celebrating the 120th anniversary of the naming of Crestline.
The grand marshals for this parade honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence represent the four local veteran groups: Chief Master Sergeant Darrel Artiaga of the Air Force (ret), representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9624; Marine Corporal Michael Patrick Brewer (ret), representing the Marine Corps League; Air Force E3 Judy Romero, vice commander of American Legion Post 360; and FMF Navy Corpsman Cliff “Doc” Bennett, founder of Rim Vets. They will be riding together at the front of the parade, followed by a trolley filled with many vets and others marching.
After the parade, the Jamboree Days festival will continue with vendors both local and from down the hill located throughout Lake Gregory Village, with several locations of bounce houses and fun zones for the kids. One is at the new 986 Pharmacy with face painting, games and Mr. Twister balloons. Mountain Magic Motors will have bounce houses and games. Next door will be a pet refreshment station with water and paw protectors, at How Money Works. There will be two beer gardens, one at Encompass and the other at the Arrowhead Credit Union. Live bands will play on four stages throughout the afternoon.
Several businesses will offer special events: Crestline Comics will have some of the coplay players that were in the parade, there will be a wrestling demonstration behind 7/11 by the Mountain Western Wrestling Federation and John Arthur will be offering free caricatures in front of his Mystwood Gallery in Top Town Crestline.
Lake Arrowhead
Doors open for the concerts in Lake Arrowhead Village at 5:30 p.m. There are three nights of concerts this weekend. On Thursday night, July 2, Fortunate Son, a CCR tribute band, will play at 7 p.m. On Friday, July 3 at 7 p.m. will be the Journey USA Journey tribute concert and, on July 4, Skynyrd & Frynds, a Southern Rock tribute, will play at 7 p.m. Tickets at lakearrowheadsummerconcerts.com.
Lake Arrowhead has a Saturday full of July 4th activities. Be sure to look up for the free flyover air show. There will be many flyovers all day long of historic airplanes (subject to weather conditions): Beginning at 11 a.m. will be a Mooney, followed at 11:15 by a PT-17 Fairchild and a PT-17 Stearman.
After a brief break, from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., the air show continues with a Mercy Air helicopter at 5 p.m.; the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s helicopter at 5:15 p.m.; Yuichi Takagi of Redfox Airshow in a Pitts S25 at 5:30; the Palm Springs Warbirds P-51, T-28, P-63 will buzz the lake at 5:45 p.m.; Rob Harrison in the Tumbling Bear Zlin 142C at 6 p.m.; T-6s at 6:15 p.m.; T-34 Mentors Formation of four led by Brian Smith and George Watson at 6:45 p.m.; and the Dawn Patrol formation of five will fly at 7 p.m.
The fireworks spectacular celebrating America’s 250 begins at 9 p.m., presented by the Arrowhead Lake Association. They will be shot from a barge in the lake so the show should be visible from most spots along the lakeshore, Lake Arrowhead Village and from private boats on the lake.
Green Valley Lake
Green Valley Lake is celebrating both America’s 250th and the 100th anniversary of the construction of their lake. On Saturday, July 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be artisans and vendors in the Green Valley Lake community garden. The annual July 4th parade will begin at 11 a.m. in downtown Green Valley Lake followed by a concert by the 1920s string and jug band “Mojave Monkey Flowers” in front of the Black Dog Social Club from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The fire department will hold its annual barbecue on Saturday from 11:30 to 3:30 p.m. From noon to 2 p.m. there will be a balloon twisting artist for all. The next band will be Nick and Rosie playing classic country western /steel guitar from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in front of Black Dog Social Club. At 3 p.m. will be the annual boat parade on Green Valley Lake, with staging on the north shore. All this will be capped by an evening performance of jazz/ blues music by Holy Crow at the Black dog social club, at 7:30 p.m.
On Sunday, July 5 there will be more artisans and vendors in the community garden from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a concert from 2 to 4 p.m. by Steve’s Rock n’ Roll Time Machine in front of Black Dog Social Club.
America’s 250th anniversary celebration in all the mountain communities is expected to draw many visitors to the mountain all weekend long. The CHP suggests that everyone should drive more carefully as many of the visitors will not be familiar with the mountain roadways. Please do not drink and drive. Allow extra distance between vehicles and bring your patience, which should prevent many incidents. Their goal is for an accident-free holiday weekend.
The parade on July 4 in Green Valley Lake often features whimsical characters.
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