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Setting up for a blast: Workers ready Fort for the Fourth

By Andrea Damewood
Published: July 3, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
A lighting crew assembles the main stage in preparation for the resurrected Independence Day at Fort Vancouver on Friday.
A lighting crew assembles the main stage in preparation for the resurrected Independence Day at Fort Vancouver on Friday. Photo Gallery

o Ridgefield: The city’s daylong Fourth of July Celebration is today, July 3, with a parade at 11 a.m. and a fireworks display at 10 p.m., plus plenty of activities in between. Visit ridgefield4th.com.

o Vancouver Rodeo: Through Sunday at the Clark County Saddle Club, 10505 N.E. 117th Ave., Vancouver. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. today, 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $11-$26, and $7 for children, seniors and military members. Visit vancouverrodeo.com.

o Felida: The Felida Childrens Parade is at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, featuring kids in wagons, in strollers and on bikes, all decked out for America. This year, organizers expect over 4,000 kids to take part. The nonmotorized parade starts and ends at Felida Park, Northwest 122th Street west of Northwest 36th Avenue. Lineup begins at 10:45 a.m. on Northwest 122nd Street.

o Washougal: A free fireworks display will start at 10 p.m. Sunday at Captain William Clark Park.

Tip: you can interact with this map using your fingerscursor (or two fingers on touch screens)cursor. Map

o Yacolt: Today is the Big Foot Fun Run. Sunday’s free Fourth of July Rendezvous goes all day, with a parade at noon and fireworks at dusk. Visit townofyacolt.com; click on Community Events on the left side.

Here’s the lowdown on everything you need to know if you go:

Basic information

o Tickets: $5 through midnight tonight; $7 at the gate or online Sunday. Kids 12 and under are free.

o When: Gates open at 8 a.m. Stage shows begin at noon. Fireworks begin at 10:05 p.m.

o Where: Fort Vancouver National Site.

o Food and drink: You can bring your own food, as long as you don’t bring alcohol, or plan to light a grill or other fire. (Leave your pets and personal fireworks at home, too.) Dozens of food vendors and a beer garden will be on-site. Bring cash, to avoid the lines at the three ATMs.

o For more information and to buy tickets: Visit http://www.fortvan.org.

Parking

o Where: The Fire Cadets are operating a lot at Fifth and S streets for $10 per vehicle. The Academy, at 400 E. Evergreen Boulevard, will have parking for RVs for $10 per vehicle from 8 a.m. until the lot is filled; enter on 12th and C streets. All metered spots in Vancouver will be free.

o No parking: Lots will be closed at Clark College, the Marshall House and Luepke Center and at the sports fields south of Mill Plain Boulevard between East Reserve Street and Fort Vancouver Way.

o Ridgefield: The city's daylong Fourth of July Celebration is today, July 3, with a parade at 11 a.m. and a fireworks display at 10 p.m., plus plenty of activities in between. Visit ridgefield4th.com.

o Vancouver Rodeo: Through Sunday at the Clark County Saddle Club, 10505 N.E. 117th Ave., Vancouver. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. today, 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $11-$26, and $7 for children, seniors and military members. Visit vancouverrodeo.com.

o Felida: The Felida Childrens Parade is at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, featuring kids in wagons, in strollers and on bikes, all decked out for America. This year, organizers expect over 4,000 kids to take part. The nonmotorized parade starts and ends at Felida Park, Northwest 122th Street west of Northwest 36th Avenue. Lineup begins at 10:45 a.m. on Northwest 122nd Street.

o Washougal: A free fireworks display will start at 10 p.m. Sunday at Captain William Clark Park.

o Yacolt: Today is the Big Foot Fun Run. Sunday's free Fourth of July Rendezvous goes all day, with a parade at noon and fireworks at dusk. Visit townofyacolt.com; click on Community Events on the left side.

o Disabled parking: Available at the event site for a limited number of vehicles. Enter the site via the gate at Evergreen Boulevard and West Reserve Street. The length limit on handicapped motor home parking is 18 feet. Must display current state-issued disabled parking placard. Admission fee to the event applies.

Road closures

o All day Sunday:

o Evergreen Boulevard from U Street west to I-5.

o Evergreen at West Reserve Street.

o East Reserve Street at Mill Plain Boulevard; Ninth Street at East Reserve.

o Eighth Street at T Street.

o Fifth and Sixth Streets at U Stree.

o Mill Plain at Fort Vancouver Way.

o The Vancouver Land Bridge also will be closed.

o Closures beginning at 6 p.m.:

o Interstate 5: Mill Plain Boulevard exit from I-5 northbound; the Mill Plain exit from I-5 southbound will be right turn only.

o Mill Plain between East Reserve Street and Fort Vancouver Way will be closed to all civilian traffic from 6 p.m. to midnight.

o Closures beginning at 9 p.m.:

o Highway 14 exits: Grove Street-Columbia House Boulevard exit and Columbia House Boulevard/Columbia Way exit. (NEW CLOSURE TIME)

o No east/west travel on McLoughlin Boulevard at Fort Vancouver Way.

o Westbound traffic closed at McLoughlin and East Reserve Street.

o Westbound traffic closed at Grand Boulevard and McLoughlin.

o From St. Johns Boulevard, no eastbound turns to Fourth Plain Boulevard.

o At the Fourth Plain exit from I-5 northbound, no right turns allowed.

o All three lanes of Fort Vancouver Way will be northbound 9 p.m. to midnight.

Alternative transportation

o Bus: C-Tran will run shuttles from the Vancouver mall every 15 minutes from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Use your transit pass or pay $2 in cash for the round trip when boarding. Buses will depart after the fireworks.

o Bike: The city of Vancouver, Bike Me! Vancouver and the Fort Vancouver National Trust have joined to provide a volunteer-staffed bicycle parking corral at the southwest corner of Evergreen Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way starting at noon. Bring your own lock. The city is giving away free “blinky” lights for better visibility.

— Compiled by Andrea Damewood

The fuses on fireworks are yet to be lit, but things are heating up at Fort Vancouver as crews prepare for Clark County’s biggest annual event, back from a one-year hiatus.

Here's the lowdown on everything you need to know if you go:

Basic information

o Tickets: $5 through midnight tonight; $7 at the gate or online Sunday. Kids 12 and under are free.

o When: Gates open at 8 a.m. Stage shows begin at noon. Fireworks begin at 10:05 p.m.

o Where: Fort Vancouver National Site.

o Food and drink: You can bring your own food, as long as you don't bring alcohol, or plan to light a grill or other fire. (Leave your pets and personal fireworks at home, too.) Dozens of food vendors and a beer garden will be on-site. Bring cash, to avoid the lines at the three ATMs.

o For more information and to buy tickets: Visit http://www.fortvan.org.

Parking

o Where: The Fire Cadets are operating a lot at Fifth and S streets for $10 per vehicle. The Academy, at 400 E. Evergreen Boulevard, will have parking for RVs for $10 per vehicle from 8 a.m. until the lot is filled; enter on 12th and C streets. All metered spots in Vancouver will be free.

o No parking: Lots will be closed at Clark College, the Marshall House and Luepke Center and at the sports fields south of Mill Plain Boulevard between East Reserve Street and Fort Vancouver Way.

o Disabled parking: Available at the event site for a limited number of vehicles. Enter the site via the gate at Evergreen Boulevard and West Reserve Street. The length limit on handicapped motor home parking is 18 feet. Must display current state-issued disabled parking placard. Admission fee to the event applies.

Road closures

o All day Sunday:

o Evergreen Boulevard from U Street west to I-5.

o Evergreen at West Reserve Street.

o East Reserve Street at Mill Plain Boulevard; Ninth Street at East Reserve.

o Eighth Street at T Street.

o Fifth and Sixth Streets at U Stree.

o Mill Plain at Fort Vancouver Way.

o The Vancouver Land Bridge also will be closed.

o Closures beginning at 6 p.m.:

o Interstate 5: Mill Plain Boulevard exit from I-5 northbound; the Mill Plain exit from I-5 southbound will be right turn only.

o Mill Plain between East Reserve Street and Fort Vancouver Way will be closed to all civilian traffic from 6 p.m. to midnight.

o Closures beginning at 9 p.m.:

o Highway 14 exits: Grove Street-Columbia House Boulevard exit and Columbia House Boulevard/Columbia Way exit. (NEW CLOSURE TIME)

o No east/west travel on McLoughlin Boulevard at Fort Vancouver Way.

o Westbound traffic closed at McLoughlin and East Reserve Street.

o Westbound traffic closed at Grand Boulevard and McLoughlin.

o From St. Johns Boulevard, no eastbound turns to Fourth Plain Boulevard.

o At the Fourth Plain exit from I-5 northbound, no right turns allowed.

o All three lanes of Fort Vancouver Way will be northbound 9 p.m. to midnight.

Alternative transportation

o Bus: C-Tran will run shuttles from the Vancouver mall every 15 minutes from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Use your transit pass or pay $2 in cash for the round trip when boarding. Buses will depart after the fireworks.

o Bike: The city of Vancouver, Bike Me! Vancouver and the Fort Vancouver National Trust have joined to provide a volunteer-staffed bicycle parking corral at the southwest corner of Evergreen Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way starting at noon. Bring your own lock. The city is giving away free "blinky" lights for better visibility.

-- Compiled by Andrea Damewood

One staffer summed up the frenetic pace Friday as “like a ping-pong in a Jacuzzi.”

Stew Dodge, owner of the company in charge of sound and lighting for the event’s four entertainment stages, made it clear he didn’t have a moment to spare — not even five minutes for a telephone interview.

“It’s just not going to work,” he said, before hanging up to hang banners.

At T-minus-two days to Independence Day at Fort Vancouver National Site, workers Friday were setting up stages and security stations, coordinating with a couple dozen musical and entertainment acts and dealing with about “10 million little details that have to be done at the last minute,” said Kim Hash, Director of Programs for the Fort Vancouver National Trust.

Ditching the one massive main stage and adding a gate and admission charge may have helped to lower the event’s cost, but logistics are just as — if not more — complicated, she said.

Add in a children’s parade at 2 p.m., a hands-on history tent and a special-admission prime fireworks viewing area, and it’s a whole lot to do in one Sunday, she said.

“You can’t possibly squeeze it all in. That, I think, is a successful day,” Hash said.

As of Friday at noon, about 6,000 tickets were sold. Today until midnight is your last chance for $5 tickets; on Sunday, they will be $7 at the gate and online.

Blake Sakamoto, entertainment coordinator for the Fourth of July celebration, said all the acts are new to the event, save one: Dance groove band Hit Machine will play the main stage.

“With the amount of talent we have in this area, I find it difficult to believe we can’t do a new show every year,” Sakamoto said. “One band that’s really going to stand out is Cloverdayle, the country act. They’re probably on the edge of signing a major label deal.”

Fireworks are set to go off at 10:05 p.m. on the dot. In the past, 10-inch shells rocketed 1,000 feet up from a barge in the Columbia, making plenty of spots on both sides of he river unofficial viewing sites.

This year, they’ll go up about 450 feet but will fill the full sky, organizers said. Hash said she’s heard that there are viewing parties planned in some of the old favorite spots, but she’s not sure what they’ll see.

“If you’re up in the neighborhoods, we’re told they won’t be able to see them,” she said. “That’s why we’re saying, ‘Come join us,’ because we don’t want them to be disappointed.”

Though Hash said there’s plenty of “scurrying around” going on in advance of the day, “everything is falling into place beautifully.”

Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.

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