ST. IGNACE: Youth take to the streets on their decorated bicycles Saturday during the city's Fourth of July parade. The sound of children playing, the smell of an open grill, and the spirit of a nation were all around Saturday, July 4, in Les Cheneaux as the community celebrated Independence Day. Residents and tourists spent five days celebrating the birth of America and participating in a multitude of family-oriented events.

The celebration began Thursday, July 2, at the Les Cheneaux Maritime Museum in Cedarville with a community barbeque hosted by the Fund the Future campaign, which raised $753, and performance by the Eastern Upper Peninsula bluegrass string quartet, No Strings Attached. The museum also held an open house.

The celebration continued Friday morning during the eighth annual Fun Run/Walk at the Alvin Hossack Memorial Field at Les Cheneaux Community Schools in Cedarville, followed by an arts and craft fair held at the Clark Township Community Center and fish-fry hosted by the Les Cheneaux Lions Club in the school cafeteria to benefit the club's scholarship fund. The arts and craft fair continued through Saturday, July 4.

LES CHENEAUX: Bryce Neal, 7, of Hessel holds two large slices of watermelon Saturday afternoon, July 4, during the children's games behind Les Cheneaux Community Schools in Cedarville. When asked if he was going to eat both large chunks of fruit, he laughed and said, "One's for my sister." Saturday morning, July 4, crowds lined M-134, Beach, Hoedeck, and Meridian Streets to cheer for floats in Les Cheneaux's annual Independence Day parade. Spectators donned red, white, and blue attire as they clapped, whistled, and snapped photographs of friends and family parading through downtown Cedarville. Many children scurried to catch candy thrown from the floats passing by.

The theme of this year's parade was a Salute to U.P Heritage. The Runway Bar of Hessel earned top honors for its float of a bluegrass "jug" band, as judged by members of the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce. Woods and Water Ecotours of Hessel took second place and Cedarville RV Park won third place. Woods and Water Ecotours attached a pop-up tent to the top of a pick-up truck and hung various greens and branches from the truck, which also pulled a trailer of kayaks. The RV Park had three lumberjacks sawing a log. First National Bank of St. Ignace, Les Cheneaux branch, earned an honorable mention for its cardboard canoe cut-out float, and the Les Cheneaux Advisory Committee earned the people's choice award for its float, which included passing out small packets of wildflower seeds.

Zakk Izzard, 7, of Cedarville tosses a foam football into a swinging tire tied to the football goalpost in the Alvin Hossack Memorial Field at Les Cheneaux Community Schools in Cedarville Saturday, July 4. Children participated in games, races, and contests Saturday afternoon following the community's annual Independence Day parade. Other floats and groups in the parade included the Clark Township Ambulance Corps, Clark Township Fire Department, VFW Law-White Post 7958, Cedarville High School Band, Les Cheneaux Snowmobile Club, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Cub Scout Pack 140 and Boy Scout Troop 140, Barefoot's Resort, Cedarville High School classes of 1979 and 1959, Les Cheneaux Christian Fellowship, Great Lakes Boat Building School, McMaken Carpentry, and Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait.

Members of the Cedarville High School Class of 1979 wave at spectators during the Independence Day parade Saturday, July 4. After the parade, hundreds of children and families took to the field behind the school to participate in a medley of kids games, including sack-races, three-legged races, watermelon-eating contest, egg toss, water-balloon toss, and basketball shoot. Events organizer Brianna Freel said dozens of children in four age brackets participated in the races and events. At least 25 children participated in every event.

"We had a really good turnout," she said.

Each child was given 25¢ for participating, and 50¢ was given to winners in each event.

Boy Scout Troop 140 and Cub Scout Pack 140 also hosted a waterrocket launch, "Plinko" game, and catapult splash in the field to raise funds for troop and pack activities. Scouts attached pop-bottles halffilled with water to launching apparatuses, which were then pressurized with an air compressor, and watched as children pulled the cord shooting the bottle into the sky like a rocket. Children also enjoyed shooting bean-bags with a small catapult into a bucket connected to another bucket filled with water through a pulley system to try to soak a volunteer sitting in a chair underneath.

A hoop shoot sponsored by Fund the Future raised $198 for the campaign Saturday afternoon. Jason Sweeney won $25 for first place in the 14-and-older age bracket. Rob Freel and Justin Baker won $15 and $10 for second and third places respectively.

Dakota Fairchild won first place in the nine to 13 age bracket, with Avry Freel, and River Causley winning second and third places. Winners in the younger bracket were awarded the same

Face-painting and concessions were also available during the afternoon of events at the school. At dusk spectators enjoyed a vivid display of fireworks over Cedarville Bay.

The five-day celebration concluded Monday evening with a community picnic in the school parking lot sponsored by the Fund the Future campaign.