Oakwood, Ill. – Oakwood’s claim to fame?
The Fourth of July, according to Oakwood’s Fourth of July event co-organizer Ferrell Stroh.
“It brings everyone close together,” Stroh said. “Everybody just comes together.”
In Oakwood, the Independence celebration begins on July 3 when the Oakwood Public Library gives kids, teens and adults the chance to participate in a bike parade through the Oakwood Farmer’s Market.
Throughout the day, the library will provide supplies for patrons to come in and decorate their bikes, strollers, or wagons. If patrons can’t come in and decorate, they are more than welcome to decorate at home and then meet for a 4 p.m. start time as the group shows off their patriotism to family and friends in town.
The bike parade is the kick-off event, though.
A small town in East Central Illinois with a population no larger than 1,600 residents, Oakwood packs big heart into its annual celebration on the Fourth.
The effort has not gone unnoticed.
In what Stroh referred to as a population boom, Oakwood sees about 5,000 people lined along the streets and in the parking areas during the day’s events.
The Oakwood Fire Department begins the Fourth of July with the early risers, serving a pancake breakfast at 6 a.m.
Both parade viewers and participants line the streets beginning at 10 a.m.
Stroh, who is responsible for the management of the parade, expects to see approximately 125 entries in 2019. Participants can sign-up until 10 a.m. on the northeast corner of Main and Oakwood streets.
The parade will begin at 11 a.m.
Stroh said after the parade, there is about a two-hour lull in activities until vendors begin to set up at Oakwood Park. Ice cream, drinks, hot dogs and kettle corn, among other items, will be available to purchase.
An air rescue helicopter will also be at Oakwood Park for visitors to view and get in.
At 6 p.m., Hillbilly Deluxe, featuring Jon Foley and Ryan Downing, will take the stage, performing live until 9 p.m. when the Jamaica Pyrotechnics will begin its fireworks show.
“It’s really something to see,” Stroh said. “It’s just like WWIII; the fireworks and rockets and explosions. It’s beautiful and it’s nonstop. It’s 24 or 25 minutes of nothing but the sky lighting up; this just going all distances and all altitudes.”
Stroh said people come from all around, filling up the park with lawn chairs and blankets to be near their family and friends while spectators also line the streets going out of Oakwood.
Stroh has been part of organizing the Fourth of July celebration for two years. With a love for the Fourth of July, he said it has been an honor to help Bob Parr, who has been teaching Stroh the ropes after decades of organizing the event.
A Veteran and member of Oakwood’s American Legion, Stroh served in the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper.
“The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday,” Stroh said. “I bleed red, white and blue. I take care of all the flags in all the Village of Oakwood. I’m very patriotic.
“It’s a big thing for me. I can’t even put it in words, really, how much pride and how happy I feel on the Fourth of July.”
