Freedom Food Trucks

Rotary Club of Westerville to host its Independence Day celebration

The Rotary Club of Westerville invites all to party like it’s 1776 when it hosts its 61st annual Independence Day Celebration complete with an expanded Food Truck Festival and Concert Series.

Dave Krebs, chairman of the Fourth of July celebration, says he hopes to gather over 10,000 people together for the event to not only celebrate everything Fourth of July, but to build community.

“This is going to be the biggest and best ever. We got some great donations to make this possible,” Krebs says. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Food Truck Festival and Concert Series

Krebs says there are over a dozen food trucks and tents ready to serve festive dishes to attendees shortly after they arrive at the Westerville Athletic Complex at 4 p.m., giving visitors plenty of time to relax and eat before musicians take the stage an hour later.

If you’re looking for some great food, food trucks will be stationed across the road at the Westerville Community Center for the first time.

The concerts will kick off with music by Blue Spectrum, and in an ironic twist for a 1776 festival, The British Invasion will perform next with its signature ’60s British rock style before finishing just in time to watch fireworks presented by the City of Westerville.

“When the band gets done at 9:50, you can just look up and the fireworks come right overhead,” Krebs says. “It’s really close, so we got a great view.”

Building Community

One of the Rotary Club’s mottos is “service above self,” and Krebs says he wants to embrace that by providing the community with a great opportunity to reconnect at their Independence Day Celebration.

“Ours is all about bringing the community back together,” Krebs says. “It’s just a really neat family time that kind of brings the community together.”

Krebs says the celebration is not only held to honor veterans, soldiers and first responders, but also to help people overcome conflict and find common ground within their community.

“This is a chance to kind of get back to our roots of America, to be friends with our neighbors, and to know who our neighbors are and to find new neighbors, and really have a chance to bring community together in unity,” he says.

All-day Celebration

Before the food trucks and concerts, the Independence Day Celebration starts bright and early with some changes from previous years’ festivities.

As usual, the annual Independence Day Celebration 5K Run/Walk will take place at 8 a.m. with proceeds benefiting Westerville’s Young-Budd Post 171 of the American Legion and Ellis E. Woodrow Memorial Post 7883 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

Different this year is a pre-race ceremony featuring the Westerville Honor Guard with members from both the American Legion and VFW at the new Westerville Veterans Memorial Plaza at the Westerville Sports Complex. The ceremony takes place at 7:30 a.m. and will be followed by the Kids Fun Run dashes taking place before the 5K.

To avoid peak-day summer heat, Krebs says the Independence Day Parade is sticking with its 10:30 a.m. time and will feature The Ohio State University Marching Band director Christopher Hoch as the parade’s grand marshal.

Looking for a sweet summer dish before you head to the festival? Krebs recommends his fresh fruit salad, which is as tasty as it is patriotic in red, white and blue.

Pat Krebs’ Fruit Salad

• 2 cups of strawberries

• 2 cups of raspberries

• 1 cup of blackberries

• 2 cups of blueberries

• 4 kiwis sliced to show the center star pattern

• 2 sliced bananas

• 2 cans of Dole tropical fruit (undrained)

• 2 cans of mandarin oranges (drained)

• 1 fresh pineapple cut in cubes

• 1 cup Craisins (or dried cranberries)

• 1 cup sliced grapes

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Chill until ready to serve.

Let the strawberries, blueberries and kiwi stars give the salad a nice

Fourth of July flair.

Confirmed Food Trucks and Vendors

Medallen’s Gyros – Gyros, gyro rolls, salads, cyclone fries, pop/water

Tortilla Street Food – Tacos, quesadillas, burritos

The Tasty Bus – Mini donuts, soft pretzels, ice cream, doughnut sundaes

Chick-fil-A – Sandwiches, chips, cookies, canned pop/water

Yumii Kettle Corn Co. – Kettle corn, water

The Funnel Cake Station – Funnel cakes with choice of toppings

Donna’s Delicious Dozen – Madeto-order donuts, cold brew

Coffee Company – Iced coffee, iced tea, shaved ice, lemonade, Italian sodas, smoothies, frappes

Ruta 40 Argentina Grill – Argentine food, beef and bratwurst sandwiches, ground beef empanadas, salads

Cardinal Pizza – Pizza

Schmidt’s Sausage Truck – Bahama Mama sausage, pork bratwurst, chicken bratwurst, all beef frankfurter, garlic knockwurst

Fat Kid Burgers – Hamburgers, tater tots, and kids’ hot dogs and chicken nuggets meals

Kona Ice large and small food trucks – Shaved ice