Long before it was the Firecracker Fest, before the crowds gathered together at Mill Creek for fireworks, frog races, and food trucks, Statesboro's Fourth of July Celebration was born from the same vision that started the recreation center in 1948: one woman's belief that a small town could dream big.
The Fourth of July celebration has been around for centuries, with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence dated July 4, 1776 and the naming of it as a federal holiday in 1870. But the Firecracker Fest, or what was simply known as the Fourth of July celebration back then, has only been in Statesboro, Georgia since the early 1970s.
What brought this event to fruition went back much earlier than that—starting with a sweet, charming southern lady who had more stubbornness than red wine on a white couch: Honey Bowen.
The Birth of the Recreation Center
Honey Bowen dreamed big and set her sights to the stars, devising a plan to build Statesboro's first recreation center. Mind you, Statesboro was a small city back then, and only 10 recreation departments in all of Georgia were operating full-time. It just wasn't expected that a small town could succeed at getting one up and running.
But Honey Bowen did it—she took her proposal and lobbied all of the city officials, starting with her husband, W.A. “Bill” Bowen, a Statesboro City Council member who later served 20 years as mayor.
Much of this story was shared by Frank Hook, one of the past directors (1976-1979) of the recreation center, who credited Honey’s boldness and determination as the true starting point for it all.
After Bill and Honey Bowing ate breakfast together on a January morning in 1948, Bill Bowen went to office at the city hall, likely expecting his day to run as any other day would. But to his surprise, his secretary was knocking on his door at 9am for an appointment that he was unaware of.
He was even more surprised when his wife walked in and questioned why this talk couldn't have happened at home. Honey Bowen, with all her fierceness, said that this wasn't a husband and wife matter—it was a business matter.
She wouldn't take no for an answer. When Bill Bowen said they didn't have the money to fund this project of hers, she told him to find it.
And so the recreation center was born in 1948 with $3,000 to spend, a bold move that was used to hire their first full-time director: Max Lockwood.
"Without leadership, they reasoned, there wouldn't be anything else," said the Statesboro Recreation Department.
The people of the community quickly became part of this project—churches made facilities available, private property owners offered the free use of land for playground sports and the Bulloch Herald, now known as the Statesboro Herald, adopted the program as a personal enterprise. Thousands of inches of copy followed, firmly establishing the program as an institution in the community.
In the week following Lockwood's appointment as Director of Recreation, Mayor Gilbert Cone proclaimed April 9, 1948 as "Pool Day." The community began to raise funds to build a state of the art swimming pool at Memorial Park at Zetterower Avenue, thus the birth of a swimming pool that experienced enough laughter for a lifetime.
By 1966, a pavilion was built, commonly mispronounced as Pav-a-lon by Tom Brown, one of the first few swimming teachers and lifeguards at the pool. A snack shack was built soon enough too, featuring a tv, ping-pong tables, a jukebox and a vending machine—a favorite hang-out spot for all the kids back then.
Sadly, Memorial Park bid farewell to its beloved snack shack, pav-a-lon, and pool, with the snack shack being removed in 1977 and the pool and pav-a-lon being removed in a similar time space.
Fourth of July Celebration
And right around that time, in the early 1970s, the Fourth of July celebration began making its mark on Statesboro. It wasn't called the Firecracker Fest back then as it is now, and the celebration looked much different from the festival today.
During the 1970s, Statesboro’s Fourth of July celebration was a sun-up-to-sundown affair held at Memorial Park and the surrounding areas. The day was packed with activities including swimming and pool events like diving for fish and pennies, baseball and softball games, all-star team competitions, grease pole climbing, picnics, barbecues, Little League baseball games, concerts, and fireworks to end the night with a flash of color.
"People came all day long to picnic, to swim, to be in racing events, to be in funny field follies," said Hook, reminiscing the early days of the Fourth of July celebration. "Families would bring their cars and back up with their trunks loaded with the blankets and bags and food for the day."
Firecracker Fest
In 1990, the citizens of Bulloch County voted to approve a special sales tax, where Bulloch County began to fund the recreation center instead of the city. This happened after it became clear that the recreation center wasn't being used by just the people of Statesboro, but the county as well.
By 1993, Mill Creek Park opened to the public, and the Fourth of July celebration became the Firecracker Fest. While it remains a fun-filled event for anyone who wishes to attend, it's a fraction of what it used to be during the 70s. During the late 80s and early 90s, the Fourth of July celebration day was cut roughly in half—beginning around dinner time and ending after the fireworks were finished.
The Firecracker Fest still carries on the legacy of community connection and fun today, hosting popular activities such as greased pole climbing, live concerts, a frog jumping contest, delicious food, and fireworks, all at Mill Creek Park.
In many ways, the Firecracker Fest—though changed in size and setting—still carries the spark Honey Bowen lit in 1948: one that reminds us that a small town can dream big, too, and that community spirit only grows stronger over time.
The 2025 Firecracker Fest will be held on Thursday, July 3 at Mill Creek Park; more information regarding the event can be found here.