News : Celebration Park ribbon-cutting includes music, fireworks

Celebration Park dedication: John & Dottie Anderson view the river wall with the gazebo behind them.

VPRD board members unveil the monument, which is the top of the 1916 water tower.

VPRD board members and donors cut the ribbon to celebrate the park's opening.

VPRD board members and donors cut the ribbon to celebrate the park's opening.

The Celebration Park dedication event ended with fireworks Saturday night..

Celebration Park officially opened on Saturday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the riverside block where nine home were destroyed during the flood of 2008.

Vinton Parks and Recreation Director Duane Randall, along with the VPRD Board members, joined several donors in cutting the ribbon.

A large check attached to the wall of the picnic shelter announced that $375,000 in contributions from local residents, businesses and organizations helped make the park a reality.

Randall offered special recognition to Darlys Hulme and Bill Talen of Farmers Savings Bank, John Anderson, Tom Stueck, representing Cargill, Jon Clingman and Mark Mossman for their generosity towards the project.

The Vinton Community Band -- marking its 30th year -- played during the afternoon celebration.

Evening activities

The Mossman family, as several classmates and friends of the late Burns Mossman watched, cut the ribbon on the Burns Mossman Gazebo, and unveiled the plaque honoring Burns, who died in a car-motorcycle accident several years ago.

The gazebo ribbon cutting was the first of several evening events.

Jon Clingman, accompanied by his wife, Julie, along with his father, Roy, and other family members, cut the ribbon for the fire pit -- a project he was responsible for helping create at the new park.

Jon said that it was appropriate for his dad to be there, saying his father's lifetime of community service to their home town of Galena, Ill., taught Jon the importance of involvement, and inspired his participation in many Vinton projects throughout the years.

Strait Run, consisting of Vic Schmidt and his three sons, Stephen, Samuel and Gabe, became the first band to perform in the Gazebo. They played a variety of classic rock songs, plus a few more recent numbers.

Bar-Y Pyros then ended the evening with a fireworks display.

See more photos of the noon dedication HERE.

See photos of the evening events, including ribbon cuttings for the Burns Mossman Gazebo, the fire pit, and fireworks, HERE.