By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Fireworks, a parade and other festivities are set to blast off in Whitmore Lake this holiday weekend.

A patriotic fireworks display sets off at dusk Friday from the center of Whitmore Lake. The Whitmore Lake fireworks are fully funded by community donations and various fundraising efforts and raffles have been underway. Saturday will mark the 62nd annual parade for the Northfield Township community. It steps off at 10am and the theme this year is “Celebrating Hope and Freedom”.

At a recent board meeting, Northfield Township Director of Public Safety Bill Wagner said they usually close Main Street between North Main and Barker Road between 8 and 9pm for the fireworks on Friday, depending on when traffic starts to get heavy. He said they work with the Fireworks Committee on parking and are pretty good at getting people out and the street re-opened within 15 to 20 minutes after the show.

For the parade on Saturday, Main Street is closed down shortly before it starts at 10am and Wagner will also be serving as this year’s Grand Marshal. He said it’s exciting to get back to being able to do everything after missing it all last year and there’s a sense of excitement in the community for all of the events coming up - noting it’s a very busy time for both the police and fire departments. Wagner said the fire department is also excited to be celebrating its 75th anniversary and there are some special things people are going to see during the parade.

The rain date for the fireworks show is Saturday. Various volunteer opportunities are also available. Northfield Township Trustee Nate Muchow said it’s going to be a great show and reported that they could use some family-friendly groups such as Boy Scouts or others to help out with parking, which is the hardest thing every year.

More information about the 4th of July festivities and Muchow’s contact information are available on the Northfield Township website. That link is provided.