Impressive shows fuel Monett’s July 4 celebration

Monett’s July 4 celebration had events from downtown to the traditional gathering at South Park for live music and fireworks. 

Monett Main Street added to its weekly Farmers’ Market festivities with the Pancakes of Parkinson’s fundraiser for the Parkinson’s Group of the Ozarks. Picnic tables were added to the Downtown Pavilion space, providing eating opportunities. 

For the first time, Main Street added a foam cannon to the splash pad, giving cavorting children an extra source of fun as they danced in the spraying water. 

A car show was set up on Broadway, sponsored by Main Street, from Fourth to Fifth streets, blocking through traffic for pedestrian viewing. According to Fire Chief Brandon Pennington, the show grew to an extra half block, reflecting the success of the appeal. 

Activities at South Park started in the morning. The Monett Lions Club again offered their barbecued chicken dinners near the cook shack west of the Park Casino. Kicking off entertainment on the park’s main field at 11 a.m. was the new Monett Community Band, playing patriotic selections and setting the tone for subsequent performers. Luis Gomez, announcer for the day, introduced various groups. 

“Every band was absolutely awesome,” said Suzy McElmurry, executive director for the Monett Area Chamber of Commerce, organizers of the park activities. McElmurry especially praised the guest of honor, Nashville songwriter and performer Kenny Ray Horton, for his set. “Kenny is an interesting man with a lot of experience. His whole team was gracious and appreciated our efforts and welcome.” 

Usually after the spotlighted entertainer closes, a dead spot of up to 40 minutes develops before the fireworks. Chamber board member Kristi Chapman suggested an alternative, and Gomez ran with it, providing recorded dance music like Katy Perry’s “Firework” for children to dance to, waving their glow sticks in front of the stage. 

“[The dancing] kept the crowd involved,” McElmurry said. “The biggest part of what we do is keeping kids happy.” 

McElmurry added praise for city crews that put blue dye in the water for the Roman fountain along Hwy. 37, adding an extra festive touch to the proceedings. “I cannot brag enough about the city having the park in pristine condition,” she added. 

A couple of late arriving vendors had difficulty getting into the park, particularly one that had a blow-out on the interstate. “Everyone was there when they needed to be,” McElmurry said. 

The Chamber had a centrally located tent and continued to sell wristbands for the kids’ attractions well into the evening. In addition to Chamber board members, volunteers from Arvest Bank and Drury GO students jumped in to help, staffing four stations to cut time waiting in line. 

Sgt. Paul Ferguson from the Monett Police Department sang the National Anthem before the fireworks show. 

City police patrolled the park grounds from golf carts, foregoing bicycles used in the past. Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District had a rig on the grounds in case of heat issues, though no emergencies appeared to develop. 

The Monett Fire Department had its new command truck in the park for the first time. Fire Chief Pennington explained the truck, a three-quarter-ton GMC Sierra that the city had owned since 2024, had a slide-out tray and camper tray added. The city had been gifted a unit by the Barry-Lawrence Ambulance District, but deciding a different vehicle was needed, sold the ambulance to rehabilitate the truck into a command truck. New MOSWIN [Missouri Statewide Wireless Interoperable Network] state radios were added with frequencies to all emergency responders. The truck offers a map to lay out the staging area, like South Park, where each responding team could be placed, and all directed from one location. 

Pennington said the city even got written permission from the Monett School District to paint it school colors of gold and purple on a white background. 

From the command truck, general announcements were made to the crowd. Fireworks started 10 minutes early due to an approaching storm, unseen from inside the park. Once the show concluded, another announcement urged spectators to make their way to their vehicles as the storm drew closer. 

“We use the 30 minutes or 30-miles-away rule,” said David Compton, the city’s emergency management coordinator. “In the last three to four minutes of the show, lightning was recorded 32 miles away. We went ahead and let the show end, then urged folks to leave. The first lightning within 10 miles of the park was seen after 9:46 p.m. That’s why we have a unified command center.” 

Compton noted the exit from the park proceeded smoothly. 

As to how many came to the fireworks show, Compton said statistics would take several days to calculate, using the aggregate that included the number of active cellphones recorded. Numbers looked less than last year up to 7 p.m., but after that the crowd grew to what had been tabulated at around 9,000 in 2025, if not beyond that. Compton hoped to have that figure for the Monett City Council’s monthly meeting on July 9.