AmeriBration has begun!!!

Miss AmeriBration Haley Copeland, at left in the photo, was crowned during the Miss AmeriBration Pageant Monday night in the Calvert City Civic Center. First runner-up Shelbi Nelson is second from the left and second runner-up and most photogenic Whitney Fulks is at right. The pageant is a fund raiser for the Calvert Area Development Assocation. The proceeds from the beauty pageant are used to help fund many of the free events and services provided for AmeriBration events in Calvert City on July 4th.-The Lake News photo by Loyd Ford.

Girls ages 3-5: Winners in the girl’s 3-5 age division of the Miss AmeriBration Pageant Monday night in the Calvert City Civic Center pictured above are L. to R. winner Lilli Smith, 1st runner-up Kandance Tubbs, 2nd runner-up Nora Dodd & Miss Photogenic Hannah Riley.

AmeriBration headed our way

The annual Fourth of July celebration in Calvert City begins in earnest this coming Monday night with the Miss AmeriBration pageant. This past Saturday the Git Fit 5K Run was the first preliminary event for AmeriBration. More than 150 runners participated in the fitness run. The Git Fit 5K run started in North Park at the Calvert City Civic Center and went through the trail at North Park and out onto Fifth Avenue down to Calvert City Elementary School and back to the finish at the civic center. 1-mile children’s run was held following the 5K run.

Saturday, July 4th is the big event and organizers from CADA are putting the finishing touches on the all-daylong series of events. One of the most popular is the youth talent show at 9:30 a.m. at the Memorial Park stage. A program of entertainment is planned all day long at the park on the Fourth.

A complete schedule of events is included in this week’s issue of The Lake News and Area Info. The section also contains contact names for individuals in charge of various events.

Northcutts AmeriBration Grand Marshals
Geraldine and Ron Northcutt, above, have been named as Grand Marshals of the Calvert City AmeriBration parade on the Fourth of July.

They met while they were teenagers in Southeastern Missouri after the newly formed Kentucky Lake spilled over onto the bottomland of his family’s farm in Cerro Gordo, Tennessee. Ron Northcutt’s family came to Missouri seeking new farmland after the completion of Kentucky Dam. That was more than 62 years ago. If the dam had never been built he probably would have never attended the Little Vine Baptist Church in the Big Opening Community in Missouri and he would never have met his wife of 57 years Geraldine. There have been literally trillions of gallons of water over Kentucky Dam since that first meeting at Little Vine Baptist Church and it’s been a long road since then.

On the Fourth of July Ron and Geraldine Northcutt will get to take another short trip not too far from Kentucky Dam this time. They will be riding at the head of the AmeriBration parade as Grand Marshals.

The Northcutts raised their family in Calvert City, including their two sons and nine grand kids. Family and church are at the center of the Northcutt family’s world. Geraldine says that her daughter-in-laws know that they and her grand children are central to her life and that keeping the grand children, which she does ever Wednesday, is never a burden to her. Ron said that since they first came to Calvert City and joined first Baptist Church in 1964 they have worn out two buses taking children from church on trips. Work and Calvert City’s proximity to Southeastern Missouri is how Ron and Geraldine came to Calvert City to make their home. Both their parents still lived near Sikeston, MO when Ron accepted a position with the former Air Reduction Company’s Calvert City plant as an electrical engineer. During his career he also worked for Pennwalt, Inc. and for a time had his own firm Construction Services.Later he went to work for BFGoodrich and Westlake and retired from both companies.

In their retirement the Northcutts still remain active in their church. Ron pointed out that Geraldine is known for her sourdough bread. Since she got her start of it in 1980 she has baked three to six loaves of it a week to deliver to neighbors and friends at church. The grand kids love that bread and soon they will have a great grand child to look after as well. The new baby will be out-of-state and Geraldine says she had told Ron he’s got to get the motor home fixed up so they can visit there.

The Northcutts will join a long list of local people who have been honored on the Fourth of July in Calvert City. Parade starts promptly at 7 p.m. on July 4th. Everyone is invited to join the festivities.