Fourth

Fourth

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This year, as Mr. Carrigan turns over the reins of the evening’s program to a group of town volunteers, and the fire department’s festival continues, the event should be better than ever, say the organizers. A coalition of the fire department, the Washington Town Council, the Washington Business Council and the Rappahannock Association for the Arts and the Community has assumed joint sponsorship of the day’s activities.

“From this point forward, we’ll be trying to make this a cooperative community effort,” said Jim Thomasson, president of the business council. “After all, unity is precisely / what the Fourth is all about.”

As in years past, the festival will begin at 10 a.m. on the Fourth, when Gay St. is closed to traffic and transformed into a crafter's paradise. More than 50 booths displaying a wide variety of arts will line the street from the library to the Washington Baptist Church.

And the food will begin early as well. “We learned quickly that you'd better start cooking as soon as things begin.” Fire Chief Roger Roach said. There will be traditional American fare such as hot dogs and hamburgers, more exotic dishes such as bratw’urst and knockwurst (served in a German beer garden) and Chilean entrees. The ladies of the Washington Baptist Church will offer box lunches for those eating on the run, and the Village Cafe will have food on the sidewalk too.

If wine is more the style of the day, there well be plenty of that on hand as well, with five Virginia vineyards equipped for sampling, purchasing by the glass or by the bottle.

For those contemplating a later meal, at 4 p.m. the fire department’s barbecue dinners go on sale. The pigs will be cooking all day on the monument grounds near the Courthouse, along with roast corn on the cob and other accompaniments.

At noon, church bells will toll to summon the townspeople to a patriotic pageant on the steps of the Courthouse, with local residents in colonial costume convening for the reading of the Declaration of Independence and other historic documents.

Also at noon, the Pegasus medevac helicopter from the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville will land on the lawn of Avon Hall. Its visit is planned for several hours, but Chief Roach noted that the chopper and its crew are on call, and if it is requested for an emergency, Pegasus may arrive late or leave early.

If all the walking leaves visitors feeling like taking a load off their feet, they can stop in the Gay St. Theater, where free movies will be shown all day. This year, film buff Matthew Jaro of Adelphi, Md., has chosen comedy shorts—Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields—from his collection of classics for his third Independence Day screening.

Further down Gay St., the Rapphannock Library will have its annual used book sale, where bargainhunters can find classics and others at a discount. New this year at the library is a book-signing featuring local authors. Peter Exton (“Shunpiker’s Guide to the Northeast”), Ruth Higbie (“A Class Full of Gods and Goddesses in Nepal”) and Benita Kane Jaro (“The Key”) will be on hand to discuss their books and to sign copies for interested readers.

The library also has a generous stock of “Flossie’s Recipes: The Wonderful World of Herbs,” a collection of recipes and remembrances compiled by Flossie Williamson’s friends, in memory of Woodville’s first lady of herbs. Mrs. Williamson’s friends also plan to have on hand an ample supply of Flossie’s herb tea and herb sandwiches—for those undecided about purchasing a book.