Ruston adds kickball game to Fourth of July celebration

Ruston put kickball at the center of its Fourth of July celebration, pairing a parade in front of the Ruston Fire Station with a community tournament and hot dog barbecue at Rust Park. The city’s holiday schedule ran from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., giving the event a longer afternoon stretch than a simple parade stop.

The day started with a welcome event and speakers at 11:30 a.m. on North Winnifred, followed by the annual bike parade at noon. After that, the gathering moved to Rust Park for a 12:45 p.m. barbecue and a kickball tournament, with the city’s July newsletter also identifying the food portion as a Community Kickball & Hot Dog Barbecue. The city’s June newsletter said the post-parade celebration was set to last until 3 p.m.

Ruston’s public materials framed the event as a celebration of two milestones: “Ruston (120 years!) & America (250 years!).” That theme ran through the holiday plan, which mixed the bicycle parade, a prize for the best-decorated bike, family-style games and the kickball activity into one civic outing rather than a separate sports event.

The location tied the pieces together. The parade began in front of the Ruston Fire Station, and the fire department lists its station at 5117 N Winnifred Street in Ruston, WA 98407. From there, the crowd shifted to Rust Park, where kickball gave neighbors a reason to stay, eat and play after the parade rolled by.

The city treated the kickball portion as a community gathering component, not a league night or a standings chase. That made the game fit the rest of the holiday plan: simple, public and open to families at different ages and athletic levels. With volunteers and donations welcomed, Ruston used kickball to stretch the Fourth of July from a viewing event into a block-long gathering that kept people together through the afternoon.