Juneau powers up for Independence Day with feast of traditional July 3 events
- Mark Sabbatini
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 4
Watermelon-eating contest, soapbox race qualifiers, concerts and minute-before-midnight fireworks mark countdown to nation’s 249th birthday
Addi Johnson got her family off to a sparkling start at a family tradition at one of Juneau’s classic pre-July 4 events, handily (or, rather, handlessly) defeating a picnic table of peers to win her age division of an annual watermelon-eating contest Thursday evening at Savikko Park.
It helped that she spent the day warming up for the contest, in a manner of speaking.
"I didn’t eat at all," she said.
The contest is also something of a family tradition.
"I won the competition last year for the adults," her father, Dominique Johnson, said after watching Addi win and getting ready to watch another daughter, Nora, 10, test her tooth talent against another tableful of competitors.
The contest during the annual July 3 community picnic was part of an array of events sponsored by the Douglas 4th of July Committee, which on Thursday also included time trials for an annual soapbox derby that will take place the afternoon of July 4.
A separate traditional July 3 event starting a short time later across Gastineau Channel at Sealaska Plaza was a concert by the Juneau Volunteer Marching Band. Conducted for years by Tristan Hovest, a Fairbanks music instructor who visits for the holiday, this year’s program featured the usual mix of classic patriotic holiday marches with a diverse range of showcase tunes that the musicians had less than a week to rehearse together.
Among this year’s more novel selectons were Brian Balmages’ "Hypnotic Fireflies" (whose arrangement calls for a metal Slinky to produce sound effects) and the finale of Samuel R. Hazo’s "Sevens" with its oddly syncopated 7/16 time signature (reminder: 4/4 is a steady beat; 3/4 is waltz).
"I just sit around — I'm not even exaggerating — I just sit around listening to music, and trying to put things together," Hovest said when asked afterward how he selects music for the program each year. "Then I let it sit, and I come back and listen, and I think ‘Does that sound good together?’ and I try to think about what it would be like for the audience."
By the time the concert ended at about 8 p.m. a steady stream of people were arriving downtown for the fireworks still about four hours away. Per tradition dating back to the 1800s, the fireworks show occurs a day earlier than many places in the U.S. because when the Douglas Treadwell Mine was in operation it only shut down on Christmas and the Fourth of July. To ensure miners could enjoy the fireworks, the show was moved a day earlier just before midnight.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
More photos of Juneau’s July 3 events (all by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent):
