Caledonia hosts inaugural Fourth of July celebration
For over 30 years Mike and Jackie Savage have dreamed of bringing an Independence Day celebration to the city.
CALEDONIA, Miss. (WCBI) – The town of Caledonia hosted its inaugural Fourth of July parade for the community.
Hundreds filled the streets in red, white, and blue to celebrate and remember America’s freedom from British Rule.
For over 30 years Mike and Jackie Savage have dreamed of bringing an Independence Day celebration to the city.
“Every year on the fourth we think, ‘man, we need to be going to a fourth of July parade, we ought to make it happen, and every year, we’ve said that, and another community did one and we thought, if they can do this, by golly we can do this,” Jackie said.
Mike says celebrating the nation’s birthday gives the town a sense of camaraderie unlike any other.
“This is the birthday of our nation when it all started. It’s important for the town because we can all go out and celebrate, we can all gather up and down the main street, and it gives everybody something to do,” Mike said.
Robyn Seagraves has lived in Caledonia since 1989.
She says events like this allow her to fellowship with her community and remember what the day means to her.
“It just means I’m proud of my country,” Seagraves said. “It gives me a day to show my family, to make my kids understand how important it is to live in this country, how precious it is, how fortunate we are to be in this country, this state, and this small town that we have. To be able to get together and celebrate that is important.”
The Savages say the goal is to bring community and American spirit.
“This is a close-knit town, everybody loves each other, and they back each other, and when something going on, they come out for it and support it,” Jackie said. “We had a lot of people fight for this country and the independence we have today. You have to do things to celebrate that.”
“I think we need to remind everybody how great our country is,” Mike said. “There are a lot of problems if you look around at everything, but at the grassroots level, it’s still in really good shape. We have to celebrate that and remember that now and then.”
The Savages say they hope to make this an annual event.
