Major changes to July 4 Festivities in Lake Worth

Statement from Mary Lindsey on our July 4 festivities.

Due to algae in the Intracoastal, following is the agenda:

A painful yet necessary decision about the Great American Raft Race festivities has been reached. The full official joint statement from the City of Lake Worth and the NAPC with all the details will be published on the front page of the Lake Worth Herald tomorrow. For now, Here's the scoop:

The part of the Raft Race where rafts and rafters actually go into the Intracoastal has been cancelled. Hang on, there's more . . .

The NAPC Presidents Cup Kayak Race has also been pulled from the Intracoastal at the Pre-raft race party at the Beach Club Friday evening. The pre-raft race party at the Beach Club on Friday is STILL ON. In fact, all the pre-raft race parties are still ON! Stay with me, there's more and the news gets a lot better from here on . . .

On Sunday, July 3rd, the City of Lake Worth and the NAPC are hosting a Splashtacular Great American Pool Party for all Raft Race Fans (that means EVERYBODY) at the pool located at the beautiful Beach and Casino. Admission is FREE and get this - Parking is FREE for all attendees. The Pool Party starts at 5pm. At 6:30pm, the lifeguards will blow their whistles and call all swimmers to the pool deck. All the lane markers will be rolled up, the Kayaks and their Captains will enter the pool and the race around the pool for the NAPC Presidents Cup Champion of 2016 will start. The baby pool will of course remain open for the little ones throughout the event. But what about the Raft Race and the Parade on the 4th of July you ask . . .

On Monday, July 4th the Raft Parade is still a GO, except the parade will take off at Noon! Line-up is still on J St and Lucerne Avenue. Line up is now at 11:30 am.Raft teams may or may not choose to parade with their rafts - but the Parade Goes On!! Rafters (with or without rafts will still parade through the downtown all the way to the BoatRamp at Bryant Park and that's where the celebration turns a little different this year.

Raft trucks and trailers from the parade (for those teams that choose to parade their rafts anyway) will still have preferred parking in the boat ramp lot. Judges will select the winner of the Best Decorated category based on rafts and or costumes. The On Shore performances will still go on, except they will be held on the bandshell stage. The dunk tank (which may or may not be filled with blue-green jello-like grunge) will still be set up only moved a little bit north to Bryant Park.

Judges will still choose "Best First Timer", "Best Performance" and the crowd will still choose "Crowd Pleaser" trophy winners. The NAPC will decide at their Council meeting this Saturday, what to do about the "Mighty Grunge Cup Trophy", ordinarily presented to the raft that comes in first. The "Run Aground Trophy" usually awarded for spectacular failure and the "Paddle" trophy usually awarded for less than neighborly sportsmanship, are awarded this year in absentia (and without naming names) to every agency responsible for mucking up our beautiful Lake Worth Lagoon!