Valley City July 4th Event Sees Large Crowd

by Ben BeEssen

The Valley City July 4th Celebration is always a big event, and this year was no different. Many attendees said this year’s crowd was larger than any of the previous years’ crowds. It doesn’t get much better than a July 4th celebration in small town America. There were many events including a catfish filet eating contest, sweet tea chugging contest, and more. The night was capped off by a fireworks show.

A lot of people were looking forward to the cousin reveal station again this year, but the event organizers didn’t bring them back. They felt it was too controversial and too “redneckish” for the event. They added a watermelon seed spitting contest though (a much less redneckish event), and it was a popular event. They had 9 contestants, and it came down to two ladies- Sue Spitphire and Hazel Hottaire. Spitphire ran out gas in the end, and Hottaire ending up narrowly winning the contest. Hottaire was awarded 3 watermelons for winning the event (a $60 value).

The catfish filet eating contest was a big draw. 12 contestants competed in the contest, and they had 10 minutes to eat as many filets as they could. Bro. Jake “The Snake” Flair prayed beforehand that there would be no bones in the filets. Johnny Blue, the winner last year, was upset by Billy Flathead. Flathead slowly and calmly ate 40 filets. He put hot sauce on his filet, and his slow pace and patience paid off in the end.

The sweet tea chugging contest had some controversy. Contestants had one minute to chug as many 12 ounce cups of sweet tea as they could. Initially, Sonny Lipton was crowned the winner. But, last year’s winner, Milo “Red” Diamond and his wife complained to the judges that Lipton didn’t actually drink all his tea. After a video review, Diamond was crowned the winner. Lipton only drank about 80% of each glass of tea; a lot of tea ran down his chin and neck and onto his shirt. Lipton and Diamond’s wives had words, and the two ladies had to be separated.

The Dirtdobbers started their patriotic themed show around 8:00. They performed many patriotic songs including “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless the USA.” This is always a moving show. You had hundreds of people singing along and waiving American flags.

To cap the night off, there was a fireworks show at 9:00. Many people complained about the drone show last year, so the event organizers decided to bring back the fireworks show this year.

This year’s event was fantastic. It’s always nice to see the community come together to celebrate our great country. The good ole USA isn’t perfect, but she is pretty awesome. We have so much to be thankful for, and we hope that God will continue to bless our great country.