After the City of Martin cancelled its fireworks display for the nation’s 250th birthday, Tennessee Post 55 led a community effort to bring the display back, along with a bigger celebration.
Last February in Tennessee, the City of Martin Finance Board announced that the annual Fourth of July fireworks display conducted by the city would be cancelled because of a lack of funding.
That didn’t sit well with American Legion Post 55 in Martin – especially considering this year is not a typical Fourth of July. On that day this year, the nation celebrates its 250th birthday.
So behind Post 55’s leadership, and with support from both the city and its community, the fireworks are back on – along with a larger celebration. On July 3 at the Martin Recreational Complex, Post 55’s Picnic in the Park will include live music, food vendors, food trucks and inflatables for children.
And, of course, a fireworks show to cap off the celebration of America’s semiquincentennial.
“We couldn’t just see letting the 250th birthday of America go pass without celebrating it in some way,” Post 55 Vice Commander Joe Drnach said. “And It’s nice to have the whole community involved in this.”
Post Commander Sherwood Tackett said the post already wanted to do something to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday even before the city’s fireworks display was cancelled. “When I took over as commander, I knew the 250th birthday was coming up and I wanted to do something big,” he said. “The plan was to do something other than this until we found out the city couldn’t do the fireworks.
“We were going to do something big for the community anyway, so when we came up with this idea and everybody agreed with it, we just rolled with it and tried to make it as big as we could. We wanted to show them … the 250 is something to be proud of. And we wanted them to know that, ‘Hey, we’re here to do this.’”
During its first monthly meeting after the city had announced it was cancelling the fireworks display was when the idea of stepping in to help came up. “It was basically said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something for the community,’” Drnach said. “I think everybody was for it when we brought it up. That’s what got the ball rolling.”
Up next was reaching out to the city to find out when was necessary for Post 55 to put on a celebration and fireworks display, including insurance, permission to use the Martin Recreational Complex and getting support from the city’s first responders.
Martin will provide police officers for traffic control and security, as well as members of the City of Martin Fire/Rescue Department for fire control and paramedic service.
The cost of the fireworks, as well as insurance, was estimated at around $12,000. That fundraising goal has been met and includes donations from multiple local businesses.
American Legion Riders Chapter 55 Secretary Heather Ingram, who also is a member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 55 and has helped organize the event, said the July celebration is the perfect setting for the public to get a better look at the American Legion Family. “It’s amazing,” she said. “We get out in the community, and the community gets to learn more about the Legion. People may not know what the Legion stands for.”
Post 55 also has reached out to multiple other veteran service organizations to include them in the celebration.
“To be a part of something this big is something that I am very proud of,” Tackett said. “I retired with 23 years (in the U.S. Army) and two combat tours. Being a part of something like this is just amazing. You’ve got to be proud of this being the 250th year of our independence.”
Both Tackett and Joe Drnach were alive during the nation’s 200th birthday in 1976. “That was a great time,” Joe Drnach said. “I remember having a big picnic in the park with my whole family up in Illinois. I still remember what a great time that was.”
Ingram, however, was not around for that celebration. “I’m proud of our nation,” she said. “I wasn’t here for the 200th birthday. But I’ll remember this one forever.”
- USA250