Fireworks are banned in the city of Newcastle, but, as always, there is one place where residents can legally watch the pyrotechnic displays mostly associated with Independence Day.

The city’s annual Fourth of July celebration returns to Lake Boren Park this Saturday.

As the region experiences particularly dry conditions, now more than ever, city officials are pleading with citizens to heed the firework ban.

“Our fire and police departments recommend that people take advantage of the elaborate public firework displays around the region,” said Wendy Kirchner, Newcastle community activities liaison. “Please consider treating your family to a fun Fourth of July this year at Lake Boren Park.”

Residents can start filing into the park at 6 p.m. July 4, when vendors will begin selling food.

Neil Diamond tribute band Cherry Cherry will entertain the crowd from 8-10 p.m. Led by vocalist Steve Kelly, Cherry Cherry honors Diamond’s “timeless” music, according to the band’s website.

The fireworks show starts shortly after it gets dark, or at about 10 p.m.

AvalonBay, the developer of a new community at the north entrance to Newcastle, is the event’s title sponsor. The Golf Club at Newcastle and Waste Management also contributed to the event.

The city reminds residents to report illegal fireworks displays immediately by calling 911.

Newcastle News wants to see your photos from the Newcastle Fourth of July celebration. Email photos or video of your patriotic fun to newcastle@isspress.com, tweet them to @NewcastleNewsWA or post them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NewcastleNewsWA.

In an effort to better communicate with its residents, the city of Newcastle is reaching out to you. Community activities liaison Wendy Kirchner wants to bring City Hall to its residents, through presentations and meet-and-greets.

Here’s Kirchner’s pitch on how the city can help you get better acquainted with the staff that run the place you call home:

Newcastle city staff would like to come to your neighborhood! Are you interested in meeting your neighbors, making your area safer and learning about city services?

We all want to live in a safe, connected community, and we are looking for opportunities to share information about city services, neighborhood safety and discuss issues of concern.

We want to hear what’s going on in your neighborhood, what your concerns are and what your ideas for solutions are.

We want to let you know about available city services, programs and volunteer opportunities.

Newcastle has been ranked by CNN’s Money Magazine as one of the best small towns in America, in part due to our diverse, vibrant neighborhoods. Working with residents to support these neighborhoods is part of our daily business at Newcastle City Hall.

City staff members are committed to working closely with each neighborhood to ensure high-quality services are provided, neighborhood associations are supported and issues are responsively addressed.

We would enjoy coming to your neighborhood and attending one of your future meetings as a way to get to know you, and urge you to raise questions, concerns and comments relating to a neighborhood issue or city services in general.

This also gives you the chance to offer valuable input to the city on neighborhood planning and budgeting for future and existing park improvements, land use, traffic, and sidewalk and roadway improvement projects.

City staff can present information about public safety, permits and licenses, code enforcement, new developments, block watch, volunteer opportunities or natural resources.

You also have the opportunity to meet city staff as a personal contact for:

• Information about any city or community service
• Help resolving a neighborhood issue or concern
• Direct connection to city department or resources
• Ways to get more involved with the city and your neighborhood
• Advice on influencing city decisions
• Help with forming a neighborhood association or revitalizing an existing one.

We encourage you to contact us if you would like to invite staff to your meetings and events happening in Newcastle. Please contact me at Wendyk@ci.newcastle.wa.us 649-4444, ext. 142, for more information.

O say, can you sing “The Star-Spangled Banner?”

If so, the Newcastle Library wants to test your patriotic pipes at its July 12 singing competition.

“The Voice of the Newcastle Library” contest will crown a local crooner, who will then get the honor of singing the national anthem at the library’s first naturalization ceremony July 23.

“It’s a fun way to showcase the singing talent in our community, draw community members together and find a special singer for our naturalization ceremony,” librarian Vicki Heck said.

The competition is open to anyone 13 and older. Contestants don’t have to be Newcastle residents to participate; just drop by the Newcastle Library to register. Space is limited, but the library will accept drop-ins the day of the event, if room is available, Heck said.

During the contest, singers must belt the first verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a panel of Newcastle-centric judges, including Imelda Dulcich, the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, and Wendy Kirchner, the city’s community activities liaison.

The winner will receive a red, white and blue sash and a gift basket from the Friends of the Newcastle Library, in addition to the July 23 singing gig.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will administer the oath ceremony for new citizens. The department recently started offering the ceremonies at smaller community venues, such as libraries.

It’s a huge honor for the Newcastle Library, Heck said, to host the ceremony, and she hopes the live singer, rather than just a recording of the national anthem, makes it all the more memorable for attendees.

“Our USCIS contact let us know that it’s extra special to have a live singer during that section, so our teen librarian Donna Day and I started brainstorming how to suss out the singing talent we are confident exists within our community,” she said.

A lineup of local elected officials will attend the oath ceremony, Heck said, including Newcastle Mayor Steve Buri and state Reps. Judy Clibborn and Tana Senn. Newcastle City Council members Rich Crispo, Lisa Jensen and Carol Simpson will also be there.

“We encourage the singers in our community to come out, have some fun and show us your stuff,” Heck said of the July 12 contest. “Help us show our newest United States citizens that Newcastle’s got talent.”

Attendees at last year’s Independence Day celebration at Lake Boren Park will remember that technical difficulties shortened what was supposed to be a 12-minute fireworks display.

The Olympia-based company Entertainment Fireworks Inc. took full responsibility for the problems, City Manager Rob Wyman said last year. Newcastle will contract with the company again for its 2014 fireworks show, with assurances the issues won’t occur again.

“I have spoken with the owner multiple times on the phone and he has assured me 200 percent that we will not have the problem again,” said Wendy Kirchner, Newcastle’s community activities liaison. “They’ve got a very, very experienced pyrotechnician that’s going to be working with us.”

Residents can start filing into Lake Boren Park at 6 p.m. July 4. Vendors will serve hot dogs, kettle corn and more. Soul Siren, a band whose appearance is sponsored by The Golf Club at Newcastle, will take the park stage from 8-10 p.m.

The fireworks show starts shortly after it gets dark, or at about 10 p.m.

The city’s annual Independence Day celebration at Lake Boren Park is able to continue this year, thanks to title sponsor AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Fourth of July isn’t the only summer event on tap. The city’s all-volunteer Community Activities Commission is already well into planning for the Concerts in the Park series and Newcastle Days.

The city has scheduled four free summer concerts at Lake Boren Park this summer. The Fabulous Roof Shakers will perform July 23; Ian McFeron Band takes the stage July 30; Cherry Cherry plays Aug. 6; and Crumac will close out the series Aug. 13.

Cherry Cherry, a Neil Diamond tribute band, is particularly notable because the group is sponsoring its own performance, free of charge to the city. Its lead singer, Steve Kelly, is a Hazen High School graduate.

All concerts are from 7-8:30 p.m. Vendors are available onsite for attendees to enjoy.

The city will celebrate its 20th year of incorporation at Newcastle Days on Sept. 6. Planning is still underway, but one thing is for certain, the car show will return after getting scrapped in 2013.

Community Activities Commissioner Linda Newing is also spearheading an effort to add an in-park parade to this year’s festivities. She said she envisions inviting school drill teams, bands, Boy Scouts and members of the Newcastle Historical Society to officially open the festival with a loop around Lake Boren Park.

“It’s the city’s 20th anniversary, so we’re looking at adding some fun, special activities to commemorate that,” Kirchner said.

Newcastle resident Alan White’s group, White, will again be the headline band. White is also the drummer for the band Yes.

Singer Gil Réne will bring the city’s 20 years full-circle when he performs at Newcastle Days. Réne was there in 1994, playing at a special city ceremony in honor of Newcastle’s incorporation.

Popular pony rides, petting zoos and inflatable toys will also return. The Coal Creek Family YMCA will bring its special KidZone activities, including inflatable slides and an obstacle course. Clowns Unlimited, the company that provided a pay-for-play area last year, will have some sort of presence, though it’s unclear what exactly it will bring, Kirchner said.

Last year, the company brought a climbing wall, swing chairs and more. Kirchner and commissioners are hoping that with sponsorship money, kids won’t need to pay to use the equipment this year.

“We don’t want to do pay-for-play,” Kirchner said. “We don’t want to have people paying for things.”

For adults, the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce’s beer and wine garden is also expected to return.

The Community Activities Commission has worked with Kirchner to plan the city’s summer events. Kirchner joined the city staff just three months ago as the community activities liaison.

She will assist in the planning of city events and provide outreach to city volunteer organizations.

“I’m enjoying working on different aspects,” she said. “One day it’s events, the next day it’s parks and the next day it’s something else. You kind of have your hand in a lot of things, which is fun.”

Newcastle residents Newing, Jim Price, Russ Segner, Diane Lewis, Angela Ursino, Victoria Hupf and Zaquis Ross are members of the Community Activities Commission, an all-volunteer advisory board to the Newcastle City Council.

Email Kirchner at wendyk@ci.newcastle.wa.us for more information about summer events and ways to get involved.

The council voted down a motion, 4-3, seeking to extend the liaison through the end of the year.

A council liaison was appointed last year to help the volunteer board as it transitioned from the Parks Commission to the Community Activities Commission.

Councilman Rich Crispo, who led the changes to the commission, was chosen to serve as the liaison. The council representative acted as a nonvoting member of the advisory board; the position was set to expire at the end of March.

Prior to the vote, Linda Newing, vice chairwoman of the Community Activities Commission, addressed the City Council, speaking on behalf of the board in saying that the liaison was an appreciated addition.

“We feel an extension of this position is value added and it’s not an expenditure to the city,” she said. “It’s just another communication tool that really helps in getting our progress moving.”

The commissioners’ own desire to keep the position was the main reason Councilman Gordon Bisset and Councilwoman Lisa Jensen said they supported an extension for the liaison.

“I believe the Community Activities Commission has requested this just about every meeting that I’ve gone to. They’re in agreement 7-0 that they need this position and it’s really helped,” Bisset said.

After a year of transition, though, and with the new addition of a city staff member whose responsibilities include working with the Community Activities Commission, the majority of the council felt it was time to let the council member liaison position expire.

The city staff welcomed new addition Wendy Kirchner in February. Kirchner’s official title is community activities liaison. She works closely with the Community Activities Commission.

“It’s important to learn that the staff person is there to assist the Community Activities Commission and to support the commission and to report back to council on what the commission’s recommendations are,” Councilwoman Carol Simpson said. “At this time, I’d like to see our staff person be given a chance to take that role.”

Deputy Mayor John Drescher also added that with the progress the commissioners had made since the board’s shakeup, the extra crutch of the council member liaison wasn’t really necessary.

“They were crawling and walking, and now I think with Wendy in place, and with the quality of people on the Community Activities Commission, they’re ready to run on their own,” he said.

The decision to axe the council member liaison, though, was another example of the City Council ignoring a commission recommendation, a disturbing trend, according to Crispo, who supported extending the position.

Earlier this year, the council decided against the commission’s proposition to extend Newcastle Days to two days and change the date, due to a lack of time to acquire sponsors and manage logistics. Newcastle Days 2014 will occur the first Saturday of September, as it has in the past.

“You have the right to make this call, make the call,” Crispo said, “but just recognize that you’ve got volunteers out there that are trying to do the best they can for the city, and when they’re asking for something, they probably should be respected.”