WARDSBORO — Downtown Wardsboro doesn't look the same way it did in 1949, but the town's Fourth of July Committee says Wardsboro still offers that old-fashioned feel to visitors every Independence Day.
In a news release, the committee says they have plenty of activities planned for Wardsboro's 69th annual Fourth of July Parade and Street Fair, the longest running Independence Day celebration in Vermont.
The street fair opens at 9 a.m., with more than 40 local and creative vendors lining Main Street with their wares ranging from everything imaginable - soaps, hand knits, pottery, jewelry, wood carvings, and clocks, just to name a few items.
Homemade strawberry shortcake will be served from the church vestry, and hamburgers and hot dogs will be on the grill outside Town Hall.
Pies of every filling made by local pie makers will be available for purchase inside Town Hall, and a bake sale will be brimming with goodies, also homemade by locals. Coffee and doughnuts will be served and sold from the rolling cart up and down Main Street.
The White Elephant Sale will be situated in front of the garage next to the library and will offer many choice items.
The parade will begin as usual at 10 a.m., after the church bell rings and the national anthem is sung. Amazing original and ingenious floats, walkers, and vintage cars, plus fire trucks from Wardsboro and other local towns, will pass by the reviewing stands and turn around to receive their awards from the judges.
Cool off with some ice cream, which can be found near the children's games that the Boy Scouts are running as a fundraiser.
Barbequed chicken with all the fixings will be served starting at 11 a.m. near Town Hall, and there will be a display of new and vintage quilts in the Methodist Church.
The Library Trustees annual book sale takes place all day on the library lawn. Their Duck Race in the West River will begin at 2 p.m.
The History House will focus on the history of the Wardsboro Volunteer Fire Department, which started in 1936.
Marvin Bentley, Ida Mae Specker, and Jimmy Knapp's Green Mountain Ridge Runners will provide music throughout the day.
The Friends of the Wardsboro Library will sell art and collectibles as well as raffle tickets for their “Best Ever Raffle” of a handcrafted, rock-maple side table.
Regular and handicapped parking at $4 per car will be available in seven marked areas. A shuttle-bus service will bring visitors to Main Street from the lower north parking lot on Route 100. Main Street will be closed to traffic from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.