The 26-year Fourth of July tradition in Rogersville almost met its demise this year.
Community members said the event's most recent organizer dropped the ball when it came to fundraising, but Rogersville rallied together to put the show back on.
“People just jumped in. The committee sort of formed itself," Carolynn Elder, co-chair of the celebration's planning committee, said. "It’s how a small town should be.”
The event organizer had announced the event was canceled in April. Since then, the community has raised 90 percent of its $35,000 goal, which Elder said is less than half of what is normally spent on the festival.
“We had a lot of performers who said they would donate their performance," she said. "People that we normally hire were willing to come to us this year at a reduced rate because they knew we had such a short time to get our money.”
Rogersville's Fourth of July festival has drawn more thanm 30,000 people to its event in previous years, getting performers like The Band Perry to headline the show.
This year, the chairman who took over saving the event Jack Davis, said Kaitlyn Baker will open for headliner and country artist Brad Puckett this Independence Day. Following his act will be performers SoulShine, Hayden Garber, Taylor Galess, Cam Catron, Elevator 1255 and The Lewis Family.
Dynamic Effects & Fireworks Co. will light up the celebration for the 14th year in a row.
“It’s going to be probably about a third less than what’s normal, but in designing the show and setting it up, I don’t think anybody’s going to notice from our end,” Vice President of Dynamic Effects & Fireworks Co. Bob Smith said.
Smith said, as a longtime sponsor of the show, they will completely match the event's $10,000 for fireworks, meaning that part of the evening will be a $20,000 viewing experience for the community to see for free.
The celebration will also still have a kids zone, along with access to the city's pool.
But Elder said the activities aren't the main reason the community is so committed to celebrating July 4.
"This is a city that respects the veterans, that supports freedom, that supports democracy," she said. "They just wanted to celebrate what our nation is about, and I imagine they'll do that forever."
With less than a month till the festival, the celebrations committee is still working to raise $5,000 to reach its goal, but Jack Davis said he is in high hopes they'll be able to hit that amount.