The Newport Plain Talk

The Cocke County Partnership is hoping residents will join them and celebrate July Fourth with a bang! They will host their annual 'Hometown Celebration,' on Friday, July 4th. The location will be the Cocke County Fairgrounds and the festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m and end with a spectacular fireworks display at dark.

"Our Hometown Celebrations have always been a huge success," said Kandee Veridal, Director of Operations for the Newport/Cocke County Chamber of Commerce. "And last year was our largest one yet! More than 3,000 residents attended our "party" and we hope we have that many again this year!

"Children and the "young at heart" will have an opportunity to spend an evening of fun activities. We will have a large sand beach, water slides and games. Families will have lots of room to bring their sand toys and sunscreen, spread out their blankets and enjoy the evening. They won't have to travel to Knoxville-they can enjoy fireworks right here!"

And what kind of a party would it be without food? No one will leave this affair hungry!

Thanks to our longtime sponsor Food City, hot dogs will once again be served. Realty Pros, LLC will be passing out potato chips and this year Crossroads Community Church will sponsor popsicles. Wilton Springs Hardware/Just Ask Rental will provide cotton candy and equipment. Then stop and visit with Newport Housing Authority and top off your meal with popcorn and watermelon and ice cream treats from our friends at Mayfield Dairy. A special thanks to E-Z Rental for the freezer to keep the ice cream cold.

The ever-popular Kiwanis Train will be offering rides around the festivities. Train riders will get an up close and personal view of the event. All aboard for fun!

Disc Jockey Air Force One will be rockin' the evening away. Enjoy lots of music and make sure to bring your dancing shoes (or flip flops)!

We are pleased this year to have Cocke County High School Jr. ROTC performing for the Opening Ceremony.

Officers from the Newport Police Department will be talking to children about drug awareness, and we can count on them to help traffic run smoothly. Keep Cocke County Beautiful will have with them a large coloring mural and a variety of colorful tattoos.

The Hard Times Car Club will be hosting a mini-car show! Step back in time as you admire these vehicles.

Thanks to Brown Funeral Home, Manes Funeral Home and Doug and Marie Bittinger for the use of their tents. And our thanks go to the Cocke County Farmer's CoOp for their donation.

Newport Sand and Gravel really rocks! They donated 10 tons of sand! Budding architects take notice-our sand castle building is expected to be a bucket of fun!

WLIK will host a live remote, so stay tuned-you may hear yourself on the airwaves.

And once again Don Ellison and the American Red Cross will staff the first aid station and have a fire extinguisher demonstration for the kids.

Thanks to the Tennessee Army National Guard Troop E Second Squadron for the water buffalo to keep us all hydrated while we are having fun! They will display some of their Military equipment to see.

Our "firecrackers" (Hometown Celebration sponsors) are Allen's Transmissions, American Appliance, Brockwell Construction, Cindy Moyers, Cocke County Glass, ConAgra, Cosby Real Estate, Crown Credit of Newport, Fisher Insurance, Green Bank, Holiday Inn, Hodge-Hardy Agency, Inc., Holston Gases, Hurt Financial, Legends Fitness, Lowland Credit Union, McSpadden Inc., Modern Woodmen, Morgan Investment Services, Inc., National Bank of Tennessee, Newport Federal Bank, Pulmacare Inc., Ron's Millwright Service, Inc., Rusty Wallace Ford, SI Group, Slender You of Newport, Inc., Smoky Mountain Home Health and Hospice, Smoky Mountain Country Club, State Farm Insurance, Strate Insurance Group, Tennessee State Bank, Wellington Place, Westgate Tires and WNPC.

"We want to thank all our sponsors and the folks at the Cocke County Fair Association and the Cocke County Fire Department for their dedicated time that they put in every year." Veridal concluded." They are such great partners - we couldn't do this without them! And Happy Fourth of July!"

For more information contact Veridal at 423-623-7201.

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