By PETE DEBOER

Tiny Town has been packed away, Waste Management has picked up all its dumpsters, the all-volunteer staff has had a couple of weeks to rest and 2013 Kingston 4th of July Celebration is history.

I hope you enjoyed the party. Many communities around the country find one or two major sponsors to promote and fund celebrations such as the 4th. That is not the case in Kingston. The entire community of Kingston is the owner and major sponsor for our celebration. The website, www.kingston4thofjuly.com, lists our major contributors who got the ball rolling this year.

Begining in January, the Main Street Ale House hosted a fundraising evening for the community, then Cup and Muffin, Greater Kingston Kiwanis, Kitsap Credit Union, Grub Hut, IGA, the Point Casino, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Windermere Real Estate, Kitsap Bank, SeaLevel Bulkhead Builders, Kingston Cove Yacht Club, Kingston North Kitsap Rotary, Oak Table Café, Taree Home Owners, Kingston Dental, Randi Kan, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, North Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Greg’s Custom Upholstery, all began to hold fundraising events and open their checkbooks or agree to support the celebration with very generous in-kind-contribution.

Meanwhile, the team of less than a dozen volunteers began to plan and put the party together. Western Display Fireworks from Canby, Ore., gave the celebration a bonus package, celebrating 20 years of business with Kingston. Parade re-organization and re-arrangement of Tiny Town occupied a lot of our planning. We hope you liked the changes. Scheduling of bands and reserving rented stages and equipment begins as the year starts. Coordination with the Coast Guard, NKF&R, Kitsap County Sheriff, Waste Management, Kitsap County Parks, PSE and many other entities is all part of the preparation.

Fundraising continues throughout the workup for the event and a few of the fun pieces are those bottles for your spare change, the 4th of July button sales and T-shirts. I hope that you all got a shirt and a button. There still may be some shirts available at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce.  Throughout springtime, contribution envelopes arrive at the post office daily. A big thank you for supporting Kingston’s 4th goes out to:

Greg and Wendy Wardlow, Ruth Christopher, Mary Gorichanaz, Paul Middelhoven, Helen Humes, Ed McCrohan, Snipper’s Barber Shop, Stephanie and Kyle Carpenter, Donna and Richard Matthews, Ken DeWitt, Morley and Pat Farquar, Ann and Ernst Schuster, Dian and Mike Kingsley, Linda Colasurdo,  Jane Woodward, Hal and Helen Hoover, Larry and Konni Barich, Henery Hardware, Jack and Robin Lott, Dan and Nancy Martin, Tony and Tania Issa, Dave and Ann Wetter, Christine Conners, Keith and Mary Kay Gurnee, Ferguson and Associates, Don and Sue Hutchins, Mike and Robin Shoemaker, Nancy Jones,  John and Teresa Root, Ruth Strahm, Ron and Ann Wood, Velma Farrar, Alexander and Kathleen Thomsen,  Edmunde Lewin, Dawn and Thomas Strickland, Diana Lundgaard,  CRISTA, Larry and Konni Barich, Kathy Showman, Oregon Street Salon, Joyce Zocher, Cathy Morris, Glen Doermire, Marion Hibbler, Lin and Dorothy Harris, Mark and Virginia Bell, Nancy Langwith and Jerry Kirschner, Veronica Gruber, Lee and Shirley Demmert, Betty S. Johnson, Ron and Cynthia Glover, Roy and Joyce Zocher, Dick and Judy Osborne, Pat Bennett-Forman, Kingston Co-Op Preschool, Lena Parks, Kingston Auto Shop, Dale Rude, Toni Fahey, David Atkinson, and Cummings, Fraser and Associates.

It is always scary to print a list like this because inevitably someone will be missing. If that is your case, I apologize. I take the risk because I want our neighbors to know what it takes to produce the Kingston 4th of July Celebration. It could not happen without your support.

People contribute what they can and, in the end, the Kingston 4th of July Celebration belongs to the citizens of our town. (Contributions can be made year round on our website through PayPal.)

Once again, thanks to all of you for your support and a big “well done” to the volunteers!

— Pete DeBoer is chairman of the Kingston 4th of July Celebration.