Celebrating freedom and community

The Fourth of July weekend celebration brought many to the streets of Havre and Chinook to attend a variety of events.

Pepin Park Festival

In Havre, on the Fourth, the festivities of the day began at noon at Pepin Park for the 13th Annual Havre Fourth of July Festival. The event drew Havreites and Hi-Liners to the park for free barbecue and live music from local bands and artists. Children were invited to paint their faces and many chairs and blankets spread an arc around the bandstand, leaving room for dancers.

Shakespeare in the Park

After the community festival was wrapped, Montana Shakespeare in the Park began setting the stage for their production of "Romeo and Juliet" at Pepin Park. At 6:30 p.m., a thespian opened the show with a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and invited the audience to sing the anthem with her.

Swordfights, monologues and star-crossed lovers entertained attendees of the play as the actors fleshed out the centuries-old tale on their two-story set as dusk set in for the day.

Fireworks display

After Shakespere's tragic ending was drunk and plunged, people gathered near the Great Northern Fairgrounds to set off their own fireworks as they waited for night to fall and for the Jaycees Community Fireworks Show to begin.

The streets around the fairgrounds were lined with vehicles and a fog of smoke filled the area as amateur pyrotechnicians lit their wares with punks and lighters until the Jaycees show began.

Chinook All-Class Reunion, parade

The next day brought the Chinook All-Class Reunion Parade, which ran through the heart of historic Chinook on streets lined with people for blocks. A car for each generation and decade of Sugarbeeters, a Shriner clown in a car like a boot, and mule-drawn carriages were a few of the sights to be seen in the procession.

Chinook had a fairly busy weekend of celebrating its schools and the people who emerged from the halls of Chinook High School and struck their own paths.