More from the 4th of July… | The Herald Times | Serving Meeker, Rangely, Dinosaur & Northwest Colorado

The Fourth of July weekend was a busy one in Meeker and Rangely.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers from all around Rio Blanco County assisted beginning and intermediate archers at the Jon Wangnild Memorial Shoot at the Meeker Sportsman’s Club on the morning of July 4 as part of the annual Range Call events. Young people and adults who attended the shoot were able to try out .22 caliber pistols, high caliber pistols, rifles, shotguns and archery.

Officers from Colorado Parks and Wildlife helped run the Jon Wangnild Memorial Shoot on the morning of July 3 at the Meeker Sportsman’s Club south of Meeker. Held in honor of Wangnild, a CPW officer who was killed in a horseback accident in 2013 and who spent a lot of time helping children become accustomed to the outdoors, children and adults had the opportunity to try archery, .22 rifles and pistols, high-powered pistols and shotguns.

The Meeker VFW and the Women’s Auxiliary led the Meeker Range Call Parade on the morning of July 4. They are seen as they passed the judge’s stand and approached the end of the parade route, which was lined up just between 7th and 4th streets and viewed by more than 2,000 people.

The Range Call Parade is usually made up of Meekerites each Fourth of July, particularly since Rangely has its own celebration. However, commissioner-elect Jeff Rector of Rangely took part in the Meeker parade, an action that was much appreciated by Meeker residents. Rector was accompanied on the parade route by his wife, Rebecca.

The Range Call Royalty, which was led by Phalon Osborn, above, who is from Rangely, took part in the July 4 parade. The queen and her attendants took part in the parade and were seen at several of the Range Call events between July 1 and July 4 in all parts of Meeker from downtown to the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds.

The Range Call Can Can Girls can be found playing the role of saloon girls during what this year was Friday night’s performance of the Pageant, which is the re-enactment of the Meeker Massacre. The local volunteers play a long-held traditional role in the Pageant and are always a favorite in the Range Call Parade on July 4 as they perform briefly along the parade route.

There were dry slides and wet slides and inflatable houses filled with water and dry bounce houses set up on the Rio Blanco County Courthouse lawn from July 2-4 during Range Call festivities. Above, a young man discovered that leaping off the top of the slide resulted in a quicker trip to the bottom. All the slides and bounce houses were well utilized during the three days.

This somewhat diminutive young Meeker gentlemen was one of the kids of all ages from quite young to full adult who tried out the roughly 50-yard zip line on the front lawn of the Rio Blanco County Courthouse on July 2. The new ride, which was a first for Meeker, was a big success as there was little time between rides and several Meeker adults and kids.

One of the barrages of fireworks taking off from Highland Cemetery on the evening of July 4 in Meeker. The fireworks were detonated by members of the Meeker Volunteer Fire Department just after dark.

A new firework display on the evening of July 4 turned up a couple of times where the red, white and Blue colors combined on Our Nation’s colors. The Meeker town fireworks display took about 20 minutes to complete but there were several clusters where dozens went up at once, prompting viewers a couple of times to wonder if those had been the grand finale.

Hundreds of people watched Meeker’s fireworks from Meeker Town Park and a large crowd watched from Circle Park as the Meeker Fire Department presented the annual fireworks program at dusk on the Fourth of July. Lots of people could also be seen in their front yards, at key intersections, on porches and on the roof of their homes during the display, which seemed pretty well received by those who watched.

The skies on both ends of Rio Blanco County were filled with great fireworks displays the evening of July 4, but it was twice as colorful as the Rangely fireworks were set off from the far side of Kenney Reservoir, allowing viewers to see double displays as well as a reflection in the water below of the firework being set off above, such as these double shells.

The skies on both sides of Rio Blanco County were filled with great fireworks displays. Rangely fireworks spectators got double the display, as fireworks were set off over Kenney Reservoir were visible in the sky and reflected on the water.

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