Barhorst
FORT LORAMIE — The Fort Loramie community will be celebrating Fort Loramie’s 55th Annual Fourth of July Festival.To mark this historic celebration, the Liberty Days Parade will return. The festival will be held June 30 – July 2, with the parade starting at noon on Saturday, July 1.
“Only in America” is the theme of this year’s Liberty Days Parade. As grand marshals, the parade committee is honoring two community members who have given countless hours to protect and serve the Fort Loramie community over the years. The grand marshals for this year’s parade are Rex Frey and the late Jerome Barhorst.
Barhorst, who is being honored posthumously, was an active member of the Fort Loramie Volunteer Fire Department for 42 years. He served the department in many capacities, including chief for nearly 25 years. He was also always involved in helping with the local church and assisting others when in need.
Frey has devoted most of his adult life to the Fort Loramie Rescue Squad. He is the only original member of the volunteer rescue squad who is still active today. Frey has been a squad member for 48 years and served as chief of the organization for 27 years. In his time, he has helped on nearly 2,700 runs. Frey also served for 20 years on the Fort Loramie Volunteer Fire Department.
The committee shared, “Barhorst and Frey are examples of people who volunteered their time for others so that our community is safe and a continues to be a great place to live. We are honoring their commitment, time, and kindness they gave to all Fort Loramie residents.”
The parade route will begin at Fort Loramie High School, proceed west down Greenback Road to South Main Street/state Route 66, then travel north up S. Main Street, turning east on Lane Street past the festival grounds, where there will be grandstand seating and plenty of space for families to enjoy the parade.
The parade will begin at noon on Saturday, July 1. After the parade, the festival will be open with food stand and entertinment. There will be plenty of public parade seating available on Lane Street just south of the festival grounds to enjoy the parade, where a PA announcer will be providing details of each entry.
Anyone interested in having an entry in the parade or have any questions, should contact the parade committee at [email protected] or call 937-726-1000.
