Staff Writer

City officials are encouraging citizens not to miss one of the biggest Fourth of July celebrations Troy has ever seen.

On Tuesday, the city will have its second old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration at the Sportsplex on Enzor Road.

Beginning at 4 p.m. and lasting until the fireworks are over, the event will include fun and entertainment for all ages.

Smith said last year’s event "far exceeded" expectations regarding community involvement and plans are to make this year’s celebration bigger and better.

"This is an annual event we are certain will become a tradition," Smith said.

He encourages families, church groups, businesses and organizations to set up a tent, fire up the grill and settle down for some good, old-fashioned fun.

Smith said the celebration will include the four f’s of the Fourth ­ fun, food, fellowship and fireworks.

"The key to it is fellowship," Smith said of the community celebration.

Throughout the day there will be the old favorites like horseshoes and watermelon.

For the children, the one-day water park will be back since it was such a success last year. Volunteers will be on hand to supervise children playing in the wet area, which will have slip and slides, lawn sprinklers, water games and volunteers supervising the children.

Other activities for children will include a croquet tournament, Diaper Derby for babies, paper airplane contest, rod and reel casting, watermelon eating contest, egg and spoon race and chalk drawing on the sidewalk.

For the adults, there will be plenty of entertainment and plenty of chances to see many friends.

"You really don’t want to miss this," Smith said of all the festivities.

There will be a patriotic program beginning at 8 p.m., followed by the fireworks at 9 p.m. A new twist to the fireworks will be that WTBF will broadcast patriotic music on the AM and Fm frequencies during the spectacular display.

Smith said anyone can tune into WTBF to hear and, for those at the park, the music will be heard via the ballpark sound system.

Another difference this year, Smith said, will plenty of parking. Once the Sportplex parking is filled, overflow will be directed to some adjacent property within "easy walking distance."