America to mark its 250th birthday

It only happens once, and that will be this Saturday.

The United States of America is marking its 250th birthday all across the nation, and Mariposa will be celebrating with a day of festivities, a parade and capped off by a patriotic drone show in downtown.

It will be held this Saturday, the Fourth of July.

David Budries, who is organizing the six musical venues for the day, said everything seems to be “on track” following a meeting last week aimed at finalizing the event.

One of the key components of the event, he said, is making sure people can get to the various locations and one of those ways is via golf carts. Those carts will be operated by members of SCOPE, the Mariposa Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Mariposa Yosemite.

The carts will be going all over the town to help people get around, he said. Stroming Road and Jessie Street will be open for foot traffic and the golf carts on that day.

As part of that, there will be hard closures of 8th Street from Highway 140 to Bullion Street as well as 5th Street from Highway 140 to the bridge.

Otherwise, traffic will be flowing through the town on the holiday. Predictions are it could be quite busy as the National Park Service will be having a free entry to Yosemite National Park on Saturday.

Budries said local officials have been meeting regularly to tweak the plans and take into consideration the many factors involved.

The events open at 11 a.m. and will culminate at 9 p.m. with a drone show over downtown.

Before that, there will be an evening parade starting at 7 p.m. covering the traditional downtown parade route. Highway 140 through Mariposa will be closed for this event and the drone show.

Part of 6th Street will be closed for the parade, as is normal for parades in Mariposa. That is where the announcers and other officials will be staged.

Budries emphasized the drone show will start “around” 9 p.m., with organizers wanting to make sure there is complete darkness. Some 200 drones will light up the downtown sky for 14 minutes. There will be music to accompany the show, said Budries.

He said it is expected the show can be viewed from 5th to 7th streets and music can be heard in that area, as well.

Last week, he said the organizing committee completed the assignments for the volunteers who are helping with the event all day long.

Another crucial element will be cooling stations that are set up around town.

Those will be at the Art Park, Mariposa Museum and History Center and the old Frost Shop lot in the center of town.

As part of the celebration, music will be central during the daylong and evening celebration.

Music will be happening all day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. just before the parade starts.

There are five stages that will be hosting music during the day as well as the music and audio that will be part of the parade and drone show in the downtown area.

Stages will be at the Art Park, Frost Shop lot, the parking lot behind the Gold Coin, Twisted Cedar and the Mariposa Museum and History Center.

Additionally, the weekly “Music on the Green” concert at the Art Park will be taking place, but the starting time has been moved up to 5 p.m.

“That is a change in the norm,” said Budries.

At the lot in the center of town, a 40 X 60 tent will be set up for the public. There will be a tables under the tent and various food vendors in the lot.

A bar area will also be featured and operated by Mariposa Butterfly Festival organizers.

Food vendors as well as other vendors will also be located in other areas around town, including the museum.

For the complete schedule and entertainment lineup, a special Mountain Living edition is included with this edition of the newspaper.

Coulterville to celebrate

The town of Coulterville will also be marking the Fourth of July this Saturday.

The Coulterville VFW Auxiliary will be celebrating from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Coulterville Park.

It will be a day of music, drink and ice cream.

There will be tabletop games, free pool access for the first 100 people.

Also, there will be $3 hot dogs and hamburgers available that comes with chips and a soft drink. Ice cream cones are 50-cents.

Extra donations are welcomed and will benefit the auxiliary.

Persons are asked to bring their umbrellas, chairs and blankets to enjoy the green law, swimming, music and more.

There is no alcohol allowed in the park.