With a three-day weekend looming in the distance, Crenshaw County residents will find no shortage of Fourth of July festivities to attend in the area regardless of where they may find themselves on Independence Day.

The City of Luverne’s fireworks display will be held tonight at Turner Park beginning at approximately 8:30 p.m., or whenever the sky is sufficiently dark.

The City of Luverne is bringing in licensed pyrotechnicians for this year’s show.

There will be no charge for attending the fireworks display, and no refreshments will be served.

The town of Rutledge will also be holding an Independence Day Parade on Friday morning.

“It begins at 10 a.m., and everybody is welcome to come and be in the parade,” said Rutledge mayor Beth Rogers.

“If they want to be in the parade, they need to be there before 9:30 a.m. because we’ll start getting lined up at 9:30 a.m., and I’m planning on having the sheriff to come out and escort us so that everyone can stay safe.”

The parade is set to begin from Town Hall, and refreshments will be served afterward as well as a few other surprises.

“We’re going to have a little ceremony to honor Joe Dexter Flynn, who was the mayor of Rutledge for a long time and passed away a couple of weeks ago,” Rogers added.

“We’re actually naming the community center after him.  The big ceremony for that will be sometime in the fall, but we’re going to announce it Friday.  And we’re going to have some different people share some things about Joe Dexter.

“And I’ve got some watermelons, so we’re also adding this year a little seed spitting contest for the kids because I don’t think many of them have done anything like that, so we thought they’d get a kick out of that.”

The Petrey community will be joining in the festivities with its Celebrate America annual Fourth of July Festival, beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. at the Petrey Community Center.

The evening will begin with entertainment courtesy of the Benton Brothers, as well as food and refreshments for attendees.

The fireworks show will follow at approximately 8:45 p.m.