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Our July 4th celebration: the effort
behind the scenes |
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July 7, 2015 |
by McKenzie MacDonald
 After a parade, live performances by local
musicians, various family events, a lively
speech by Representative Heather Scott, and an
outstanding fireworks show, it is very safe to
say that Boundary County’s annual Fourth of July
extravaganza was a smashing success. People from
all over the community braved the scorching
weather to come out and celebrate our nation’s
independence. From the looks of things, good
times were had by all that attended. What people
do not see, however, is the effort that goes in
to planning an event like this for our
community.
The Fourth of July celebration is something in
which Gary Leonard, lead organizer for the
event, takes great pride. With the help of the
community, Mr. Leonard has worked hard for the
past three years to make it an annual event that
is truly special to this community and
celebrates who we are. Each year, he aims to
provide a celebration that is fun and
family-oriented. He thoroughly enjoys seeing the
community come together for an evening.
Mr. Leonard began his efforts to organize the
Fourth of July celebration here in Boundary
County in 2012. He was disappointed that we did
not have any sort of event in 2011 and made a
commitment not to let the annual celebration
fizzle out completely. Right then he began
creating a vision for what has become our
community’s annual Fourth celebration. “It took
a while to build enthusiasm,” he said. However,
after running for Boundary County Sheriff in
2012, he was in the public eye and able to build
credibility. Since then, he has gained an
incredible amount of support from people and
businesses throughout the community. “People
here are unique,” he said. “They are open and
accepting.”
A huge, and what Mr. Leonard believes to be the
most difficult aspect of organizing the Fourth
of July celebration, is the fundraising. In
March, Mr. Leonard began delivering letters to
various businesses in town asking for donations.
This year, $8,500 was raised, which exceeded
what was expected. “I look at every donation as
a gift,” he said. Because of this, Mr. Leonard
works especially hard to remain accountable for
every penny he spends. Toward this end, all of
the funds he raises for the event are kept in an
account with the City of Bonners Ferry.
While Mr. Leonard’s favorite part of the Fourth
of July celebration is seeing it all come
together and hearing reactions after the
fireworks show, he also enjoys the parade and
works hard to build excitement for it. In fact,
during this year’s Memorial Day Parade he handed
out promotional flyers and encouraged people to
also come out for the Fourth of July Parade.
When asked specifically about his role in the
celebration, Mr. Leonard admits he cannot take
all of the credit. He believes his management
style to be one of delegation while providing
direction, and welcomes any ideas, input or help
of any kind. His motto – keep it simple and
build a few traditions. He works hard to be
flexible and is not opposed to changes. For
example, he said that the biggest change came
with last year’s firework show. In the past,
lighting off the fireworks was quite the
process, as those involved had to move fireworks
back and forth between sand-filled truck beds in
order to compensate a small number of tubes.
Last year, they were able to have a tube for
each firework, which made the process much
easier and safer. This year, a set piece was
made that featured a big, blazing, number 100 to
celebrate the Centennial year for Boundary
County. It went up in an array of sparks during
the finale.
 “The beauty of the Fourth of July,” Mr. Leonard
said, “is that nobody can screw up the date.” He
believes that people naturally want to celebrate
the Fourth, which has made it an easy event to
promote. He really enjoys seeing the community
come together and having fun at such a
family-friendly event. Mr. Leonard would like to
give a huge thank-you to everyone that came down
and supported the event. “Thank you,” he said,
“to everyone that was involved or attended.”
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Take a look at our other Fourth of July story
posted on NewsBF, Boundary County knows how to celebrate a Fourth
of July! You'll find it posted on our
home page.
And, we have a video featuring highlights of the
Eastport and Bonners Ferry parades. It
lasts about 2 1/2 minutes.
You can find that video by clicking here.
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