South Jacksonville officials ready for annual celebration

By Gary Scott on July 22, 2017 at 3:08pm

First Christian Church in South Jacksonville will host one of the highly anticipated events of the summer season next weekend.

The South Jacksonville Celebration is July 28 and 29, and village trustee Paula Belobrajdic-Stewart said it will feature many fun and exciting events.

“We’re really excited. It’s our second year partnering with the First Christian Church. They actually applied for a tourism grant, so the money that’s being spent on this event comes from our tourism fund and it’s all about bringing people into the community…On that Friday night we’re going to kick things off with the Little Miss and Little Mister South Jacksonville Pageant. That’s at 6:00 at First Christian Church, so it’ll be air-conditioned, a nice facility. There are seven boys and five girls that are going to be competing for the title.”

Belobrajdic-Stewart said the parade is Saturday at 10:00 a.m. “We’re going to start on the corner of East Michigan and South Main Street, travel down South Main, turn west on Vandalia and go to South East Street, and disperse around Dewey Park.”

The parade marshals this year are long-time South Jacksonville residents Jay and Jamie Cook. Belobrajdic-Stewart said the village board selected the Cooks, who are affiliated with First Christian Church.

After the parade, the church will host Family Day from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. “There will be wild, exotic animals, inflatables, music, face art, balloon art, superheroes will be there, and our own South Jacksonville brand new fire truck will be there.” Belobrajdic-Stewart said the fire truck and a special police car will be open for people to check out. She added that food vendors and cooling stations will be available at the event as well.