The Fourth of July holiday at Lake Mitchell is always a cause for celebration, and everyone, young and old, participates in the fun with costumes, parades and fireworks.
The highlight of the festivities is always the Fireworks show sponsored by HOBO in Cargile Creek. The McCormick family has been delighting residents and visitors for decades with a spectacular fireworks display over the lake. The event has become one of the high points of the year on Lake Mitchell.
Boaters begin gathering in Cargile Creek after dark in anticipation of the show which begins at 9 p.m. By the time the first music begins to play and the first colorful explosions light the sky, Cargile Creek has turned into a floating city.
For the next 20 minutes music rings out as synchronized fireworks dazzle the sky above.
Festivities on July 4 include two boat parades that, although they are not sponsored by HOBO, they have been a long tradition on the lake.
Anyone on the lake is welcome to decorate their boats with appropriate Fourth of July decorations and join the parades.
Pontoon boats gather at Higgins Ferry Park at 10 a.m. and parade into Cargile Creek. As the parade weaves its way aound parts of the lake, bystanders gather on the shoreline to wave them along and catch beads and candy that are tossed ashore by some of the revelers on the boats.
At 2 p.m. on July 4, a ski boat parade leaves the Blue Creek area and makes its way around the lake. WIth flags flying, the boats and their passengers make quite a stir as they pay their patriotic tribute to America's Independence Day.