Fort Scott Freedom Fest ready to fire off

Some local residents are getting fired up about the 4th Annual Gunn Park Freedom Fest event that will take place July 4.

"There is no cost (to enter the park) and there will be a lot of different things for different people," event co-organizer and Fort Scott Gunn Park Committee member Tom Robertson said.

The Fourth of July festival, which is coordinated each year by the Fort Scott Gunn Park Committee and the City of Fort Scott, is scheduled to take place from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, July 4, at Gunn Park, 1010 Park Ave.

Nearly 1,000 people attended last year's festival, even after severe flooding in the area caused several road closings and high water levels inside the park, which was closed to the public due to the floods. The floodwaters eventually receded enough for city workers and other volunteers to clean up the park, reopen it, and conduct the festival.

While there is no charge to enter the park on the day of the event, some games, rides, and other activities will require participants to pay minimal fees. All proceeds from the event help fund similar events planned by the Gunn Park Committee throughout the year, Robertson said.

"It's a fundraiser where we use the added money for other park events," he said. "It goes right back into our Halloween and Christmas events."

Each year, the committee also organizes a Halloween in the Park event in October, and a Christmas in the Park event in December.

The 2008 Freedom Fest kicks off at 7:30 a.m. with the 4th annual 5K Sam's Walk and Run, which guests may participate in at a cost of $10 per person. The race, named after Sam Morris, a well-known former local resident and runner who died in 2005, will follow paved roads through scenic Gunn Park.

A new event that organizers have planned this year during Freedom Fest is a greased pig contest, which will begin at 11 a.m. The contest is free of charge and open to children between 4 and 12 years of age. In the contest, participants will chase a greased pig in an enclosed area in an attempt to catch it. A trophy will be awarded to the first place winner in each age category.

Other Freedom Fest tournaments and events include a disc golf tournament, a horseshoe tournament, a co-ed mud volleyball tournament, a water balloon launch, and a model boat race. A total of $500 in cash prizes will be awarded to the first through ninth place entrants in the boat race, which is sponsored by the Gunn Park Committee, Robertson said.

Numerous food and beverage booths will be present throughout the park, and a free watermelon feed for the first 200 people who enter the park is also planned. A disc jockey will provide a variety of music throughout the day. An antique car show is also a featured event of the festival.

Kids will be able to purchase $10 armbands that will allow them to enjoy a number of rides and attractions, including an inflatable moonwalk and obstacle course, pony rides, and a miniature golf course, or they may enjoy each activity at a cost of $1 per time. A youth art tent will allow young people to participate in finger painting and water color activities free of charge, Robertson said.

Other free activities for youth include a fishing derby, a petting zoo, a rock climbing wall, and a turtle race.

Parking will be available in the parking lot of the Fort Scott Community College nursing facility at the corner of Ninth and Osbun streets, or in the Newman Young Clinic parking lot, 710 W. 8th St. Buses will transport passengers into the park and back to their vehicles when they leave the park.

For more information on scheduled times and costs associated with some Freedom Fest activities and events, call Robertson at (620) 223-0386.