Holiday celebrations continue at Ainsworth

As I walked around Ainsworth park with my first ever snow cone I was met with the distinct sound of water guns and children's laughter as the Independence day celebration kicked off on Saturday.

A small parade of kids started the celebration by either riding their red, white, and blue decorated bikes, or walking with small American flags while the sounds of patriotic music played.

There were many local vendors including Rachael Bower who did facepainting for the kids.

"All of the boys want Spider-man while the girls love to get the Unicorn." second year facepainter Bower said.

Another second year vendor was Gretchen Billings with Gretchen Stretchies, who said this year's layout was nicer for both the vendors and the people attending.

Kitten's Concrete Critters brought to you by Katrina and Dean Curry of Thompson falls had a vendor booth.

"All of them are hand made by Dean and painted by myself," said Katrina. They had colorful critters for every season.

Janie McFadsen proudly showed her tatted lace and crocheting, along with her husband's chainmail jewelry.

"I've been crafting and selling for a long time, I love making little fidget toys." McFadsen proudly said.

Chilaili Wachiwi was there with her vendor booth filled with colorful Native handmade things from beaded spiders to hand made dolls.

"Everything was hand made by local tribes." Said Wachiwi.

Solveig Nygaard, a junior at Thompson Falls High School, helped close out the celebration on Saturday playing her ukulele and singing a mix of covers and original songs.

Whether you enjoyed a snow cone, had kids in the parade or just took a walk around admiring all the vendors, Ainsworth park was surely buzzing with the American spirit this Fourth of July weekend.