NEWTON, Ga. (WALB) - Baker County is trying to attract more tourists to the city of Newton by hosting their first ever Fourth of July Festival on the night of July, 5.

The Deese Family, who has owned and operated Rocky Bend Flint River Retreat for several years, took it upon themselves to have a mini fireworks display every Fourth of July. With the recent establishment of the Baker County Community initiative, the family decided to bring their fireworks show to the big stage.

“We were thinking of ideas on how to bring everyone together on the fourth, and this was one of things. We got some experience shooting off fireworks, so it just worked out having us help out with that,” said Damon Deese, Vice President of the Baker County Community Initiative.

Damon Deese tells WALB that Saturday night’s festival and fireworks show are all thanks to the community working together. Residents donated funds, their personal time, decorations, and facilities to make this idea a reality.

“It’s just been really fantastic to see that the community has stepped up and said, ‘hey we wanna have something awesome for ourselves and to show that we can do awesome things for our county,” continued Deese.

Community members say they hope visitors from other counties attend the festival to see everything Baker County has to offer.

“It’s really exciting to see the whole community get involved. I mean, years of having the fireworks show at Rocky Bend and everyone coming together. This one is gonna be bigger and better. I hope for a great turnout that everyone comes out and enjoys this,” said Newton resident, Tyler Inlow.

The festivities will start on Saturday night at 6 p.m. and the fireworks show is set to begin around 9:15 p.m.

Damon Deese says that if all goes well this year, they plan to have an bigger and better Fourth of July Festival next year.

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