Andrews – The town’s annual Fourth of July celebration saw bigger crowds despite early heat and late thunderstorms, which didn’t deter the dark-thirty fireworks display.
Crowds gathered around noon for the annual P-Nut Drop, which was slightly delayed until 12:45 p.m. after its first drop over Konehete Veterans Park down the four-lane in Murphy.
Kids of all ages gathered their peanuts in their “pokes” or plastic Ingles bags eagerly seeking the painted peanuts which offered gift cards from local businesses this year as prizes.
With clear skies and a blazing sun the pool’s activities offered a chance for everyone to cool off a bit while offering up their best splashes, both biggest and smallest, as well as the belly flop. The winner of the biggest splash was Jordan Collins.
Other activities included a balloon toss, horseshoes, cornhole and the 3-point shootout on the town’s basketball courts along with the 3-on-3 basketball delayed by the 5:30 p.m. thunderstorm, which brought light hail and downpours.
Among vendors with booths were the Andrews Cheerleading Team and Andrews Shooting Teams were offering raffle tickets for various items along with face painting after their early morning successful fundraiser with the 5K race through town, which was sponsored by The Compound.
Marble Springs Baptist Church was on hand offering free bottles of cold water as well as that staple of any Southern summer, the card fan for those wanting to beat the heat and find some shade.
Once again on hand dressed as The Mandalorian character Raul Paneto roved the grounds draped again in a U.S. flag as the “America-lorian,” posing for photos with several in the crowd.
With the late thunderstorms, many people were hopefully checking social media to see if fireworks were indeed “still a go” and thankfully they were as the display began around 9:30 and offered a total of five dazzling finales in the Valleytown skies.
Details: Visit andrewsnc.org.