July 4th Logo Chosen, Plans Push Forward Without Carnival

Plans are moving forward for the week-long Fourth of July Celebration -- albeit a scaled back version.

Last week, the Fourth of July Committee met and voted to push ahead with all of the planned activities for the 33rd annual community event, despite the absence of the popular multi-day carnival.

Due to the construction work being done for the new high school, the committee had hoped to relocate the carnival to the parking lot adjacent to the Fourth of July Building. However, those plans were scuttled earlier this month when the Board of Appeals, in a 3-2 vote, rejected the committee's application for a special permit due to concerns raised by abutters regarding noise, lights and illegal activity connected to the carnival.

Unfortunately, the loss of the carnival has had a trickle-down impact. Committee Chairman Scott Garrant said five local non-profit groups have told him they will only be setting up booths at the celebration on the nights of the fireworks (July 4 and July 6). Two others still have not committed to participating.

Garrant said the groups expressed concerns that the lack of a carnival will mean much smaller crowds and that it would not be worth the investment of volunteer manpower to staff a booth every night of the festival.

In the meantime, the committee selected a logo design for the Fourth of July Celebration. The winning design this year was created by Wilmington High senior Emma Howland. A photo of her design is attached to this article.