Fort Dalles Fourth

Morning at the river and City Park

Registration for the Rocket Run opens at 6:30 a.m. at Lewis & Clark Festival Park, at 1st and Union streets in The Dalles. At 7:00 the runners set out on a 1-mile, 3K, or 5K course along the Columbia Riverfront Trail. Leashed pets are welcome, children under 13 run with an adult, and smoking is not allowed on the trail. The proceeds go to The Dalles High School cross country team.

At 8:00 a free community breakfast is served at City Park, 707 Union Street. McDonald’s of the Gorge supplies the food, and serving lasts “till it’s gone,” in the organizers’ words. At 9:00 Sam Whitley leads Yoga on the Grass back at Lewis & Clark Festival Park for an hour. It is free and open to all levels, but participants must register in advance.

This is the opening of Fort Dalles Fourth, the town’s Independence Day program since 2014. Every event is free and open to all, and the cost is carried by sponsors and donors. The 2026 celebration was listed for July 3 through 5, and the main schedule fell on Saturday, July 4. The organizers’ Facebook page called it a community-driven celebration “supported by local businesses, volunteers, and community pride.” In 2026 the nation’s 250th birthday ran through the posts and sponsor notices.

The parade on Second and Third

At 10:00 the Hometown USA Parade leaves 6th and Webber. It heads east on West 6th Street, which becomes East 3rd. At the Monroe intersection it swings west onto East 2nd, and it ends at East 3rd and Union. The route runs through the historic downtown and takes 30 to 60 minutes to pass. The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce organizes the parade, and Columbia Gorge Toyota & Honda sponsors it. Entry is free for marchers.

Veteran banners hang along the downtown streets from the week before the Fourth. Each double-sided color banner carries the name of a local veteran. Families buy new banners and renew old ones, which keeps the downtown filled “year after year with those who served.” In 2024 the organizers began the Hall of Heroes, an online version of the banners with the veterans’ stories and their ties to the town. Among the first names posted were Sergeant Leonard Topolski of the U.S. Air Force and Private 1st Class Kenneth McCorkel of the U.S. Army.

After the parade, at 11:00, the Gorge Winds Concert Band plays for 60 to 90 minutes in the shade at City Park. The band is made up of local volunteers from both the Oregon and Washington sides. From noon to 5:00, Discovery Bingo sends players around downtown.

A barge on the Columbia

The evening program starts at 5:00 at Lewis & Clark Festival Park, with live music, a beer garden, food vendors, and activities for families. In 2026 The Dalles Main Street Program billed it as the America 250 community celebration. People were asked to bring lawn chairs or blankets and to leave outside food and drink at home. The Oregon Veterans’ Home held its own Fourth that year, with food, music, and a place to watch the fireworks.

The show begins at 10:00 p.m. over the river. Since 2014 it has been produced with Western Display Fireworks and Bernert Barge Lines, and a 2015 Columbia Gorge News photograph shows the fireworks rising from a barge on the Columbia. The Sea Scouts and the City of The Dalles help run it. The organizers name Memorial Viewpoint and Sorosis Park, Lewis & Clark Festival Park, and Riverfront Park as the usual places to watch. The docks lie inside the fallout zone and are closed to viewers. Boats and drones must stay out of that zone, swimming in it is forbidden, and the water is patrolled.

Bringing the fireworks back

Melissa Napoli, who later served as Community Liaison Officer for the City of Maupin, told the Columbia Community Connection that she and her ex-husband started the festival. The fundraising began in 2013, “raising funds to bring fireworks back to The Dalles,” she said. “It was a huge collaborative, grassroots effort between citizens and businesses.” The first Fort Dalles Fourth was held in 2014. According to the Columbia Gorge News, the city gave $20,000 in startup money that year.

The grand marshal of the 2014 parade, held on Friday, July 4, was Dick Lovett, a 90-year-old World War II Army veteran living at the Oregon Veterans’ Home. Lovett had been a machine gunner and reached staff sergeant in the 182nd Infantry, where he led a 32-member platoon. He served in New Caledonia, the Hebrides, Guadalcanal, and Leyte. He held the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, the second awarded 18 years after his service. He earned the nickname “The Survivor” after one engagement. “The guys to the left of me and the guys to the right of me were all killed, but nothing hit me,” he told the paper. Doug Kirchhofer, the Fort Dalles Fourth coordinator, wrote after the selection: “This was a man with great respect for fallen comrades.” Lovett’s late wife, a wartime nurse he married after the war, had been known in Albany for putting on large Independence Day celebrations.

A hot July and $5,000

The second year ended short of money. In July 2015 Kirchhofer, then president of the Fort Dalles Fourth Committee, told the city council the event had cost about $125,000. About $60,000 of that went directly to the fireworks. Extreme heat had cut attendance at a James Otto concert on July 3 and at the daylong festival on July 4, which hurt sales at the vendor booths. He asked for another $5,000 to cover the deficit.

The Columbia Gorge News reported that the city had expected to provide only two years of start-up money, $20,000 in 2014 and $25,000 for 2015. Councilor Dan Spatz moved to grant the $5,000 on condition that the committee work with The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce on a sustainable business model. The motion passed 4–1, with Taner Elliott voting against. Spatz had heard of “tensions” between the two groups. “Tourism needs to be guided, it needs to be coordinated and that’s what the chamber is there for,” he said. “So folks, work it out.” Kirchhofer answered that this was the first time he had heard the word “tensions” used, and that the committee had “launched 16 new events over the last 15 months.” The city sent its $5,000 directly to Western Display Fireworks, the Canby company that had provided the show.

Mayor Steve Lawrence, who had no vote, opposed the request. He said promoters should carry the risk of a music event, and he spoke of “silos of influence” around town. He did expect an Independence Day event to continue, though perhaps in a different form. “It won’t be the big party that they want, but it’ll be the Fourth of July.”