Petersburg celebrates Independence Day holiday

From hot pepper eating and giant jenga, to log rolling and street races Petersburg residents and visitors celebrated the Independence Day holiday with three days of fun, games, food and fireworks. The events were put on this year by the borough’s Parks and Recreation department, Chamber of Commerce, the Lighthouse Assembly of God Church and other organizations. Grand marshals of this year’s Fourth of July parade were Gloria Ohmer-Koenigs, Patty Norheim and Roxy Lee. Events culminated with a fireworks show at the ball fields Tuesday night. Nora Saks and Joe Viechnicki spoke with some of the participants in this year’s Independence Day festivities and put together this audio postcard.

A partial list of event winners from the festivities:

Herring Toss
Mary Jane King

Blindfold Rowboat Race
Max Peeler & Nathan Ajax

Tote Races
1st – Scott Martin & Ross Hofacre
2nd – Brian Christiansen & Scott Redman
3rd – Skipper Erickson & Max Peeler

Log Roll
Women’s – Briana Bode
Men’s – Skipper Erickson
Over all – Skipper Erickson

Best of Parade
“Drum Roll” – Erin Pfundt, Madison Whitethorn, Alexandra Bless, Martha Johnson, Jeremey Randrup, Emma Chase, Sydney Guthrie, Susan Erickson, Jeff Erickson, Skipper Erickson, Cody Regula

Best Organization
Rotary Club of Petersburg Celebrating 75 years – Desi Burrell, John Mason, Dave Zimmerman, Chad Wright, Topi Karikorpi exchange from Finland, Noah Sullivan, Alice Neidiffer, Dave Byrne, Jasmine Ieremia, Ginger Evens, Nancy Murrison, Patricia Zimmerman

Best Kids
Zumba Kids Fireworks – Andrea Weathers, Anya Pawuk, Aly Thomassen, Mattea McCollum, Rikka Miller, Emilia Anderson, Dakota Caples, McKinley Dawe, Madelyn Dreisbach, Eden Davis, Hannah Slaven, Brooklyn Whitethorn, Lili Ruecker

Raffle winners: $500 Jendy Reiner Newman, $750 Signe Haltiner, Alaska Airlines tickets and $1000 Diane Marsh