The unpredictable West Texas weather interrupted the activities of the 4th on the 5th Celebration in Patterson Park on Tuesday. After enduring 100 degree plus weather during setup, event organizers and vendors had to button down and ride out a quick thunderstorm as well. Around 5 o’clock, major lightening, rain, hail and wind hit at the park. Sound equipment and fireworks were quickly protected and vendors held down their booths while the quick storm passed. Terri Robinette, Director of Marketing for Wolfforth, says, ” We are so appreciative of all our vendors. They held everything together, waited for the storm to pass and went right back to setting up. Everyone was in good spirits, laughing about our crazy West Texas weather. We are so thankful they didn’t give up!”
Live music including Justin Robinett and Ground Floor began just a little behind schedule once everything was dried off and the crowd began showing up to enjoy all the festivities. Whitley Acres provided a petting zoo including a camel and alpaca, a bucking bull train ride and pony rides for the kids to enjoy. Food vendors including BBQ, fried alligator, street tacos and lots of sweets and ice cream fed the crowd.
Although the earlier storm cooled things down considerably, the consistent high winds would led to the fireworks having to be cancelled. “We were hoping as the storms passed that the winds would begin to die down. That never happened. We were told by the company hired to put on our display that they could not shoot fireworks with the current wind conditions due to their safety regulations. It was a huge disappointment and very difficult to inform the crowd that we had to cancel that part of the night.”
This year’s 4th on the 5th Celebration ended with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem sung by Kaleigh Boas. “We want to thank all of those who came out this year and for the support we have received for this event since we began in 2014. We hope to see you all next year on July 5th and hope that our West Texas weather will be a little more kind to us,”says Robinette.
At this time, no plans are being made to reschedule the fireworks display.
