By this time next week, many of our local communities will be wrapping up the celebration of the birth of our nation.

The Independence Day holiday often involves parades, fireworks, street festivals, family picnics, or a variety of races.

Wellsburg’s festivities already began, with a block party Friday night.

The community will offer free concerts in Wellsburg’s Central Park several nights over the next week.

Sunday is scheduled for a fishing tournament, with registration at the 12th Street boat ramp from 7 to 9 a.m., and a cornhole tournament at Central Park later in the day.

Wellsburg always has its parade on July 4, and this year will be no different, with participants traveling north along Charles Street beginning at 7 p.m. Fireworks will follow that night.

The community’s observances will wrap up July 6 with a 5K run/walk beginning at 10 a.m.

Chester, also, will observe the holiday on July 4, with a full day of activities.

The Freedom Run 5K will kick things off at 9 a.m..

There also will be a Patriotic Pavement Palooza at the VFW parking lot, where, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 30 spaces will be available for local artists to use chalk to leave their temporary mark.

The Chester Lions Club will present its annual car show at Chester City Park, and, beginning at noon, the annual duck race will float through town.

The city’s parade is at 4 p.m., and there will be live music that afternoon at the park, followed by fireworks around 10 p.m.

Weirton is making a few changes for its festivities this year.

The community’s Independence Day Parade, organized through the Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation, will kick off festivities the afternoon of July 5.

Weirton’s parade traditionally has taken place in the morning, beginning at 10 a.m., and finishing up between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., depending on the number of participants. At various points in recent history, the parade was followed up by a street fair in front of the Millsop Community Center featuring food and craft vendors, live music, and more.

Depending on scheduling, there may have been other events later that day, or they may have taken place on other days. Fireworks happened at some point.

This year, everything will be happening on one day. The parade will begin at 4 p.m., followed by some vendors, a series of contests, games and other attractions.

The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra will be at the Weirton Event Center that evening, with the gates opening at 6 p.m., and their performance beginning at 8 p.m.

Fireworks will go off near the end of the symphony’s concert, typically around 9:45 p.m.

Numerous other area communities will host a fireworks display for the enjoyment of Ohio Valley residents and visitors.

Those included Wintersville this weekend, with Wells Township on July 3.

Steubenville will have its display around dusk on July 4, with viewing from Historic Fort Steuben, and Toronto’s fireworks will take place 10 p.m., July 5.

These are all opportunities for us to gather as a community, forget (at least for a while) those things which continue to divide us, and remember what brings us together as a nation.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)