Phillips July 3 party is a blast

Thousands attend fireworks display by PVFD 

  • The barrel train built by Rick Rathje was a big hit with the younger set at the Phillips July 3rd celebration.
    The barrel train built by Rick Rathje was a big hit with the younger set at the Phillips July 3rd celebration.
  • Kendall Wiarda of Ravenna sits as still as possible while Kim Evans paints a rainbow on her face at the face painting booth inside the Phillips Memorial Hall.
    Kendall Wiarda of Ravenna sits as still as possible while Kim Evans paints a rainbow on her face at the face painting booth inside the Phillips Memorial Hall.
  • A young rider on the hayrack ride at the Phillips July 3rd Celebration Thursday night catches sight of the ANR news camera and gives a friendly wave.
    A young rider on the hayrack ride at the Phillips July 3rd Celebration Thursday night catches sight of the ANR news camera and gives a friendly wave.
  • The highlight of the evening in Phillips was a fireworks display, which lit up the night sky over Hamilton County, visible for miles around.
    The highlight of the evening in Phillips was a fireworks display, which lit up the night sky over Hamilton County, visible for miles around.
  • Peyton Graham of Aurora hits the target on the dunk tank with a baseball to send volunteer Jamie Bergmark splashing into the drink.
    Peyton Graham of Aurora hits the target on the dunk tank with a baseball to send volunteer Jamie Bergmark splashing into the drink.
  • A kids pedal pull contestant struggles to pull the sled toward the finish line under the watchful eye of Ken Vincik.
    A kids pedal pull contestant struggles to pull the sled toward the finish line under the watchful eye of Ken Vincik.
  • The sky lights up with the colors of Old Glory during the Phillips fireworks show.
    The sky lights up with the colors of Old Glory during the Phillips fireworks show.

    Numbers were reportedly down just a bit from previous years at the Phillips annual July 3rd Independence Day celebration, but those grilling burgers and brats still had a hard time keeping up with the crowd for the community dinner on Thursday night. 
    A long line of people wanting the $6 meal, which included chips, beans and a drink, snaked from the door and along the inside walls of the Phillips Memorial Hall for several hours. 
    Inside, where it was cool, the hall was abuzz with activity with everything from the meal to face painting and a kids cake walk. Outdoors in the late afternoon July heat there was even more activity and bigger crowds. For kids there were bounce houses, turtle races, the barrel train ride, hayrack rides pulled by antique tractors, a basketball cart, softball, a dunk tank and the kids pedal pull. And for kids of all ages, there was the car show and root beer floats. And, in spite of the attendance reports, it appeared there were lots of people participating in all of it. 
    Phillips Memorial Foundation board member Les Dana was helping load and unload the hayrack ride, which took riders on a tour of the streets of Phillips, and talked about the history of the event. He said for many years the village held Phillips Fest the third week in September, and also had a celebration for the 4th of July. But he said a few years ago it was decided to discontinue the fall event and do an Independence Day “kickoff party” on the 3rd instead. 
    “Like with anything, it just became too much for too few volunteers,” Dana said, noting that happened about 18 years ago.
    He said the early celebration seems to keep growing a bit every year, noting that upwards of 2,000 people were expected to pour into town later in the evening just to see the fireworks display, which is the only one in the county these days. He said the more than $8,000 used to purchase this year’s fireworks was collected from last year’s event and money raised at this year’s celebration would go toward next year’s fireworks. 
    Phillips area cowman Francis McDonald, who runs the root beer float booth with the help of his wife, Patricia, said the community dinner seems to grow every year as well, to the point that the people running the huge charcoal grills on the east side of the hall have a hard time keeping up. 
    “We buy more meat every year,” McDonald said.

    All aboard!
    A popular attraction for the younger attendees for the past three years has been the barrel train pulled by a yard tractor, which is much like the one used by the Aurora Rotary Club during A’ROR’N Days. The train made of plastic barrels salvaged from a car wash, was created about 15 years ago by area resident Rick Rathje, who was in attendance as well. He said he built it for use at events at his seed dealership and to entertain his grandchildren. 
    “I’ve loaned it out quite a few times,” Rathje said. “Last year it was ice cold and there was always a line. It went from 6 to 9 and it was busy the whole time.”
    After the train ride shut down for the night and the east end of 3rd Street cleared out, the DJ cranked up the music with songs like “The Macarena” and “The Electric Slide” and a street dance ensued, with dancers young and old lining up to join the fun while they waited for the fireworks to start at 10. 
    Earlier in the evening McDonald had noted that, much like other community celebrations in the area, the July 3rd Celebration brings back folks who grew up in Phillips for a reunion. However, there were newcomers to the area as well. 
    One family, consisting of mom and dad, two boys and a grandmother recently moved to Grand Island from Pennsylvania. The mom said she is a traveling nurse and heard about the event from someone they met locally. She said having come from the East Coast, the family is enjoying life in Nebraska so far, because of the warm and friendly attitude of its people. 
    The climax of the evening was the annual fireworks display, which was fired off by the Phillips Volunteer Fire department and accompanied by patriotic music played by the DJ. 
    And when it was all over, sure enough, there was a line of cars a mile long heading south on the Phillips Spur toward Highway 34 to either turn right for Grand Island or left toward Aurora. 

    There's a full page of photos from the event on Page A9 of the print or e-editions of this week's ANR. 

    Click here to watch the entire half-hour fireworks display condensed to just 90 seconds!