Wadesboro celebrated Independence Day early on July 1 with music, outdoor activities and fireworks.
A crowd gathered in and around the parking lot of Plank Road Realty, listening to Sandy B’s, a band from Atlanta that originally came from Anson County, according to Shelby Emrich, interim director of the Anson County Chamber of Commerce.
The band played a variety of songs including “Brick House” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” changing the popular lyrics at one point to “sweet home Anson County.”
Guests also enjoyed face painting, corn hole, a lemonade sale, t-shirts sold by Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. and more. Children were provided with bubble wands, beach balls, sidewalk chalk and glow stick necklaces as adults listened to the music.
Jake Sessions, son of Wadesboro Fire Chief Marc Sessions, taunted passers-by from his perch in the dunking booth, daring all to try and dunk him by hitting a target with a softball.
The dunking booth alone brought in $100, according to Scott Collier, chairman of Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. The uptown group hosted the event.
“[Jake] was a trooper,” Collier said. “He did a great job bringing in all kinds of money.”
Collier said he was pleased with the turnout and hadn’t known what to expect, especially given the group’s unlucky experiences with previous SummerJams getting rained out.
Fellow board member Don Altieri sold town t-shirts with Collier. He said the event went beyond what he hoped.
“It definitely exceeded my expectations,” Altieri said, acknowledging the board’s efforts in preparing for the event. Emrich, Katie Scarborough and Jennifer Tarlton handled the bulk of the event planning.
Uptown Wadesboro decided to bump the celebration up to July 1 in order to keep with its typical SummerJam schedule and to avoid competition from neighboring counties’ celebrations on July 4.
In the past, the board has hosted a SummerJam the first Friday of the month in June, July and August. This year, it decided to hold only the July SummerJam.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.
Jake Sessions, son of Wadesboro Fire Chief Marc Sessions, taunts passersby, reacts as an event participant throws a softball at the target, trying to dunk Jake Sessions.
