Ivor completes July 4th celebration on Labor Day
Published 8:19 am Saturday, September 7, 2019
- Independence Day fireworks that were postponed by a late storm got another chance on Labor Day in Ivor. — Courtesy Joey Moore
Sam Bays was one of the second-place winners in the corn hole tournament. — Merle Monahan Tidewater News
By MERLE MONAHAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
merlemonah@aol.com
IVOR
The town of Ivor had to cancel its last event, a fireworks display, on the 4th of July because of a late-day storm, but this small town was not to be outdone. Within days, Mayor Tara Kea and her staff had rescheduled the to the next holiday: Labor Day.
“This was a good choice,” said the mayor. “Like the 4th, everybody seemed to have a good time — I had a lot of good comments.”
“We decided to add a few other events to the fireworks display,” she went on, “and that proved to be a good move.”
Short rides in the hot air balloon attracted a long line of people wanting a lift. — Courtesy Joey Moore
Kea added that the concession stand was also open and this helped to bring in a few more people — which the staff estimated to be close to 500 — giving visitors a longer day.
In addition to the fireworks, the hot air balloon, as well as the dunking tank and bounce houses returned. But a new event, a cornhole tournament, staged for the afternoon was a “real crowd pleaser,”
Vice Mayor Tim Suhr in charge of the dunking tank, but also who patrolled the grounds during the celebration, said his event was busy. He thinks the cornhole had the largest attendance. Proceeds from that event totaled $180, which will go toward maintenance of the Ivor Athletic Association
Cornhole tournament winners are, from left to right, Rodney and Sam Bayes, second place; and Berklee Pair and George Jernigan. — Courtesy Joey Moore
Winners of the tournament were: Berklee Pair and George Jernigan, 1st place; Rodney and Sam Bays, 2nd place; and Rickey Bracey and Mert Harrell, 3rd place.
Suhr also estimates that as many as 140 people rode in the balloon, including the mayor.
The vice mayor added that the Ivor celebration seemed to have affected more than just local people. I met people from Suffolk, Smithfield, Newport News and even Virginia Beach.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll have this again next year,” he said with a grin.
[Editor’s note: This version corrects the photography credit of the picture of fireworks. The original information was incorrectly given by the source.]
