The Courier News

July 4 celebrations planned

June 24, 2026 by G. Chambers Williams III

Fireworks light up the Clinch River in Clinton on the 2024 Independence Day celebration at Lakefront Park. Four of Anderson County’s municipalities — Clinton, Norris, Rocky Top and Oak Ridge — will hold fireworks shows on this July 4.

Communities, museums and even marinas throughout the area are gearing up for Independence Day celebrations, which are special this year as it’s also America’s 250th birthday.

For some, it’s a two-day observance this year, with activities set for Friday, July 3, as well as Saturday, July 4.

Clinton is having a free downtown concert on July 3 to kick off the weekend.

The Museum of Appalachia this year will expand its Independence Day activities to two days, Friday and Saturday, which include the annual “old-fashioned anvil shoots.” They aren’t fireworks, but they do make a lot of noise.

The museum uses a pile of gunpowder to blast a 200-pound iron blacksmith’s anvil hundreds of feet into the air, with a big crowd looking on from a safe distance.

Clinton, Norris, Rocky Top and Oak Ridge have their own celebrations planned, and each of them will be capped off by a fireworks show.

Rotary honors student with scholarship

June 24, 2026 by Ben Pounds

The Clinton Rotary Club gave a $2,000 scholarship to Rotary Interact Club member and Clinton High School graduate Isabella Worthington.

Interact Club is a group of Anderson County and Clinton high school students affiliated with Rotary and involved in volunteering.

Regina Copeland presented the scholarship at the June 11 Board of Education meeting, calling Worthington “an Interact student [who] has demonstrated a commitment to serving others in their school, their community and their fellow citizens,” adding that she “exemplifies leadership, integrity, compassion and willingness to give back.”

“Through volunteer work, community involvement and dedication to helping others, this student has made a meaningful difference and serves as an example to all of us,” she said.

Isabella Worthington

Museum anvil shoots return July 3, 4

June 24, 2026 by G. Chambers Williams III

Visitors to the Museum of Appalachia on July 4, 2024, watch one of the Independence Day anvil shoots in a field behind the museum’s main building. - G. Chambers Williams III

The Museum of Appalachia in Norris will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with an expanded two-day Independence Day anvil shoot celebration on July 3 and 4.

It’s the first time in the event’s nearly 30-year history that the celebration will span two full days, featuring Revolutionary War living-history programming, historical interpretation, and traditional Appalachian demonstrations alongside the museum’s longtime anvil shoot tradition.

At the center of the celebration is the museum’s signature anvil shoot, a rare frontier tradition in which a blacksmith’s anvil is blown about 60 feet into the sky using gunpowder.

Once used by pioneers to celebrate holidays, elections, military victories, and other major occasions, anvil shooting has become one of the museum’s most anticipated annual traditions.

Anvil shoots are scheduled for 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. each day.

Heat doesn’t slow antique tractor, engine show

June 24, 2026 by G. Chambers Williams III

George Hackler of Oak Ridge drives his antique lawn tractor around the Smoky Mountain Antique Tractor and Engine Show on Friday (June 12) in front of Anderson County High School. - G. Chambers Williams III

Despite forecasts of possible rain, there was only the near 90-degree heat for visitors to contend with during the recent 44th-annual Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Show in front of Anderson County High School.

But that didn’t deter the crowds, who turned out in potentially record numbers to see the dozens of antique tractors and other classic machines on Friday and Saturday, June 12-13, said show Chairman Louis Petrowski.

Drawing a lot of attention was a bright pink classic John Deere tractor, which Petrowski said was painted that way to aid in breast-cancer awareness efforts.

But there were vintage tractors in several other colors, as well, from manufacturers such as Case, Allis-Chalmers, Farmall, Ford and Oliver.

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Community

July 4 celebrations planned

Rotary honors student with scholarship

Museum anvil shoots return July 3, 4

Heat doesn’t slow antique tractor, engine show