‘Norris Day’ draws big crowds for events, fireworks
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Wendy Hall of Norris holds tired doggie Tucker in her lap as great-grandchild Kayden Ford looks on during the Norris Day activities on July 4. - G Chambers Williams III
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Volunteer Mon- ica Smith serves customer Hannah Lawson and baby Charlie Ray, 10 months old, at the Norris Fire Department food booth. - G Chambers Williams III
Organizers of this year’s Norris Day celebration on July 4 have declared the annual event a big success, once again, after the mostly cooperative weather helped draw hundreds of people into the downtown area for most of the day.
The event, sponsored by the Norris Lions Club but with lots of help from other civic groups and local officials, began with the Firecracker 4K run at 8:30 a.m., and closed with an impressive fireworks display at 10 p.m.
“I think it went great, and everybody had fun,” said city Councilman Will Grinder, who also is president of the Lions Club. “The Norris Recreation Commission did a great job, and the Lions Club dog show was great.
“We got real lucky with the rain,” he said.
Rain made only a brief appearance in the early afternoon, and had little effect on the crowd.
“The concert went well,” Grinder said of the evening performance by the Clinch River Horns in the amphitheater in front of Norris Middle School. It was the last of this season’s “Concerts on the Commons” series, which began in early June.
“The Norris Fire Department fireworks team did a great job,” Grinder said.
“We give a special ‘hats off’ to the Norris public works people who got the area ready, cutting the grass, getting the tables out, and much more. Everything was ready to go.
“And the Police Department did a great job with security,” he said. “Nobody got hurt. It was just a big team effort from everybody.”
Grinder estimated that Lions Club members put in a combined total of “about 600 man-hours” in their volunteer work to make Norris Day a success.