DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030944

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

LOT OF SPARK IN 4TH FOR SUFFOLK, ISLE OF WIGHT

If variety is the spice of life, then residents in Suffolk, Windsor and Smithfield can count on a lot of spice - and spark - in their Fourth of July celebrations.

The local Independence Day biggie is the 20-year-old Crittenden-Eclipse-Hobson Ruritan Club celebration at Ebenezer United Methodist Church.

The free, day-long and ``into evening'' event that begins with a parade featuring children on bikes, plus some antique cars, fire trucks, ambulances ``and anything noisy,'' said Leonard Willis, fireworks chairman. ``There will be a speech, then games and things for the kids including a dunking booth. We'll have horse shoes and other things people can participate in.''

The parade path winds its way through the neighborhood.

A high point of the day's activities is the famed Chuckatuck Creek raft race.

``Anyone can enter. We have first and second prizes for the winner, for the best built craft, the most original, the prettiest,'' Willis said. ``The rafts must be hand built and personally propelled.''

The Junto Woman's Club will sponsor a raffle for an outdoor swing, and there will be a bake sale. Food and beverages will be available.

A live band will provide the music from 5 to 9 p.m.

``The fireworks begin at 9 at a cost of about $7,500. The club raises some of the money, but we'll need donations,'' Willis said. ``We try to improve the presentations each year, but it gets more expensive each year.''

The people who had donated their services in the past, now want to charge to set off the fireworks. To offset that cost, Willis is handling the job, along with his sons Lenny, Larry and Leslie.

In downtown Suffolk, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Facility Management will offer what recreation superintendent, Tim Smith, calls, ``the greatest thing in Suffolk for July 4.''

It is the third annual Stars and Stripes Spectacular, with country music by Wooden Nickel. The even is being held at Constant's Wharf.

The event begins at 4:30 p.m. and ends with ``a spectacular fireworks display at about 9 o'clock,'' Smith said.

In-between there will be a carnival and games for children including a bounce house, and a 55-foot caterpillar game. And, there will be clowns.

Food and beverages will be available.

``The only thing we ask,'' Smith said, ``is that you come in on the Constance Road side.''

Smithfield will kick off its celebration a day early - complete with fireworks. That's the story in Smithfield.

The Smithfield celebration will begin at 9:30 p.m.

The fireworks will be shot from the town fishing pier on the Pagan River, in Robert Clontz Park.

Windsor, though smaller, has a mightier celebration planned on Independence Day.

It begins with a free community picnic at 6:30 p.m. on Duke Street - closed for the occasion - across from Windsor High School.

``We had about 1,000 people last year,'' said Macon Edwards, treasurer of the Windsor Ruritan Club, co-sponsors with the Windsor Woman's Club. ``When the fireworks start, we get twice that number.''

Those clubs help serve the meal. Local businesses help pay for the meal and the entertainment, the latter provided by Undercover, which plays a variety of music, and has been playing for the Windsor to-do for six years.

Money for the fireworks comes from the town and Isle of Wight County.

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