Lake Helen Shines!!

Lake Helen's 2002 4th of July Freedom Festival 'Celebrate America's Freedom' has come & gone but it has been a pleasure working with all of the citizens who gave their time in order to create one of the largest July 4th celebrations in Lake Helen's history!

The Freedom Festival Committee would like to express its sincere gratitude to the citizens of Lake Helen along with businesses, city staff and governmental leaders who came together to make this year�s celebration a memorable one for years to come. We could not have pulled off such a successful event without the joint efforts and financial help that we received from our neighboring communities and Volusia County. Orange City, DeLand, Debary and Deltona picked up the torch, contributing money toward the fireworks show and Volusia County provided equipment, law enforcement assistance and rescue personnel. Lake Helen and all its festival supporters have a lot to be proud of. Our small town showed its big heart this year as we hosted the only day long 4th of July celebration in West Volusia. Our efforts were praised by all the local new papers and many who attended the celebration.

The Saturday night before the 4th, the Miss Lake Helen-Cassadaga Pageant set the stage for our 4th of July celebration to begin. This years contest proved again we can be proud of our youth in our small town. The Miss Lake Helen-Cassadaga 2002-03 winner was Julie Carroll, 1st runner-up was Logan Hodges, 2nd runner-up was Sabrina Valentine and Miss Congeniality was Chelsea Shortlidge.

The parade, which lasted about 1� hours, included over 100 entries and it has been estimated that over 5,000 individuals joined us during the day starting with the parade and the activities at Blake Park.

Our parade marshal this year was Randy Wilson, a veteran of World War II who was wounded twice. Randy is a quiet, modest man whose heart has been in the community for many years since his service in the Marine Corps. Thank you Randy for being there for us and our country.

Janet Reno, Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, presented the opening address to the events organized by the West Volusia Saddle Club. This was followed by the wonderful performance of the Coronado 4H Drill Team, Reflections of Perfection and Bailey Dotten and her amazing trick horse Chance.

On the main stage, at 11:30 a.m., Rev. Grady Snowden of Blake Memorial Baptist Church gave the opening prayer followed by the performance of the Deltona Alliance Church Sanctuary Choir with 'Sweet Land of Liberty,' a production of patriotic songs, directed by Scott Mattern.

At 12:30 p.m. Lake Helen Mayor Mark Shuttleworth opened the festivities with the introduction of the newly crowned Miss Lake Helen-Cassadaga as well as the runner-ups and the parade winners. Best Over All float that took first place was the Sand Crane float.

Best decorated auto or float was #26, the Allanson kids. Second runner up in this category was #13, Bible Baptist Church and third runner up was #2, Boy Scout Troop Pack 590.

Then elected officials and candidates were welcomed by the mayor while officials from the neighboring communities that joined in this years efforts were recognized and thanked for participating in the parade and the days activities.

At 1:15 p.m. the fun began on main stage with the Lake Helen's Gong Show, gospel singing and Lake Helen�s rendition of American History Weakest Link Show with Wayne Bishop as host. All during the day field games such as water-balloon relay races, watermelon-seed-spitting contest, greased watermelon races and the 'Mud-A-War' contest, were available in Blake Park. The new addition to the popular games this year was the 'Poo-per,' which is similar to the dunking tank but with a different twist. The Poo-per is a toilet stationed over the head of a dedicated volunteer. When the target is struck using a plastic shampoo bottle, the commode flushes onto the lucky guy below. At least the volunteer stays cool. It was great fun for all!

Delicious food of all types was available during the day from the Boy Scout BBQ pork to grilled corn-on-cob, BBQ chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, cotton candy, boiled peanuts, ice cream, homemade desserts and more. Your name it, we had it!!! This year we had 52 vendors of all types participate. At 5:00 p.m. we moved to Royal Park for the Blue Grass Music and to await the FIREWORKS. The 40 minute firework display was more spectacular this year than usual with an estimated 20,000+ individuals in attendance.

The teen involvement was pivotal in the success of this years event. The teens joined together and helped stuff envelopes, made phone calls, distributed fliers, constructed all the games, set-up the tents, assisted in the fund raising activities and worked countless hours the days before and the day of the celebration making sure all their efforts would be enjoyed by our guest on the 4th. The Freedom Festival Committee could not have made this event the great success it was if it were not for the Teen Program volunteers and Chief Keith Chester.