The Independence Day celebration this weekend at the Les Cheneaux Islands will offer a full slate of activities. A highlight will be a parade at noon Sunday in Cedarville, but games and fireworks continue to make the celebration one of the area's largest.

The Les Cheneaux area Fourth of July committee has made it a priority to ensure that the Independence Day celebration extends beyond the traditional fireworks display and the parade. Both events are consistently spectacular, said committee member Greg Wagner, but there should be festive activities in between them.

Committee chair Brianna Freel said an important aspect of planning for this holiday is to make sure the activities are all-inclusive. It is her philosophy that nobody, especially the younger crowd, should be relegated to the sidelines.

“The Fourth of July needs to be more of an event for smaller children, not just the older crowd,” Mrs. Freel said. “I wanted the celebration to feel like it did when I was a girl, when there were so may things for a child to do.”

Traditional children's games will take place at the school athletic field in Cedarville Sunday, July 4, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. These will range from competitive endeavors to contests where everybody wins. Each participant will be awarded a quarter for each event. The top three finishers in the competitive events will get an additional quarter.

Among the competitive events are 50-yard and 100-yard dashes, three-legged and sack races, water balloon and egg tosses, and a football toss, where participants attempt to lob a football through a tire. A timed basketball hoop shoot will encourage shooters to see how many baskets can be made.

Eating contests will feature hot dogs, ice cream, and watermelon. The hot dog-eating contest is new this year and will feature two age divisions: 8- to 13-year-olds and 14- year-olds and older. Registration is at 5 p.m., with the contest beginning at 6 p.m. The ice cream-eating contest begins at 7 p.m. at the Ice Cream Shoppe.

Free sno-cones will be provided between 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. and free s'mores will be roasted from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Hot dogs and burgers will be available for purchase from the Trojan Booster Club, from noon to 3 p.m. at the athletic field.

Other events include face-painting and a duck pond. At approximately 4 p.m., the Clark Township Fire Department will fill a foam tank with coins and allow children to wade through the bubbles for this loot.

With so many opportunities and events, and a reward for being involved in multiple activities, Mrs. Freel envisions the afternoon concluding with happy children with pockets full of quarters.

“Not only are the kids having fun, the volunteers are enjoying themselves, too,” Mrs. Freel said. “You can really see it in their expressions and in their willingness to volunteer year after year.”

Several community organizations are also hosting activities. The Community Center in Cedarville will host a three-day art fair from Friday, July 2, through Sunday, July 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

On Friday, July 2, the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum will have an open house, with free admission, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the Maritime Museum has an open house from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The latter open house will conclude with a backwoods barbecue from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and music from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Lions Club will host its traditional fish fry Saturday, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., while the Les Cheneaux Ambulance Auxiliary will host a pancake breakfast Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Floats for the “Float Your Boat” parade will begin to line up at noon Sunday on Grove Street in Cedarville. The procession will begin at 1 p.m., a later start time than usual, organizers say, to accommodate church services.

The “Float Your Boat” parade theme this year is meant to encourage creativity with a boating theme.

“It's whatever floats your boat,” Mrs. Freel said of parade float design.

Part of what makes the fireworks display so special, organizers say, is the intimate setting, where spectators concentrated in the downtown Cedarville waterfront park enjoy interacting with one another.

“It makes for great fellowship,” Mr. Wagner said of the gathering.

He was a spectator at the Fourth of July events last year, along with his grandchildren, and was impressed by the friendly interaction between families.

Also impressing Mr. Wagner were the efforts area volunteers went through to create wall-to-wall events, which has carried over to this year.

“This year, counting the parade and the fireworks, we have nine straight hours of activities,” he said, which might entice more people to attend.

“Everyone's been to shows where viewers pull up with their vehicles, plant a lawn chair, and leave as soon as the fireworks are over,” Mr. Wagner said.

The community activities recall local holiday celebrations in earlier years, Mr. Wagner said.

“As I talk to people who've been here for decades, they say the celebration is getting back to the way it used to be,” Mr. Wagner said.

Mrs. Freel, who grew up in Cedarville, concurs.

“It's kind of like a walk along memory lane,” she said. “It's what I remember the Fourth of July being like.”