Sand Springs Sertoma Club cancels July 3rd fireworks show and Murder Mystery Dinner

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Sertoma supporters attend the 2017 Sertoma Murder Mystery Dinner.

The 2020 Sand Springs Sertoma Fireworks display, scheduled for July 3, 2020, has been postponed until July 3, 2021, due health and safety concerns from the COVID-19 virus.

The Sertoma Club has hosted an annual fireworks show on July 3rd since 1989, but this is the third time in the past four years that the event has been canceled. In 2017 the club had to cancel their show due to construction in Case Community Park. In 2019, it was called off due to extensive flood damage after the entirety of Case Park was submerged for more than a week.

Also, The Sand Springs Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presented by the Sand Springs Sertoma Club and Women’s Chamber of Commerce scheduled for August has been cancelled due to health and safety concerns from the COVID-19 virus. Each August the nonprofit organizations hold a silent auction, banquet, and murder mystery show to raise money for individuals with hearing and speech impairments. The Murder Mystery Dinner is their biggest fundraiser of the year, and it's a blast. Participants are given a back story, clues, and the opportunity to interrogate local actors to try and guess who committed the murder. 

Sand Springs Riverfest and Sertoma Fireworks set for July 3rd at Case Community Park

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The City of Sand Springs announced plans for the Second Annual Riverfest celebration Monday. The festival, launched in 2017 to commemorate the Grand Opening of Case Community Park, will be moved forward from September to July 3rd to coincide with the Sand Springs Sertoma Club's 21st Annual Independence Day Fireworks Show. 

"This is a family friendly event, and we want to invite people from around the Sand Springs area to come to the park, relax and enjoy a fun evening," stated Jeff Edwards, Parks Director for the City of Sand Springs. "We're truly excited to share the great lawn with everyone this year. If you've not seen it, we think you're really going to agree that this special lawn was designed for nights like this."

The annual Sertoma Club fireworks show was canceled in 2017 for the first time in its twenty-year history, due to a $6 million renovation of the park, then known as River City Park. 

Case Community Park, named for community philanthropist Mike Case, features a hundred acres of activities, including baseball, soccer, and softball complexes, a BMX track, beach volleyball, a splash pad, playground equipment, walking/biking trails, a disc golf course, Arkansas River access, fishing, horseshoe pits, a Thunder Cares basketball court, the Case Community Center, and Harper's Hut Shaved Ice. 

In addition to the usual park perks, Riverfest will also bring inflatables, live music, food trucks, and other activities. 

The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with food and free activities in the park. A patriotic bike parade (decorate your bike) kicks off at 8 p.m. near the park entrance and will lead toward the great lawn.

This will be the second year for the Independence Day Bicycle Parade, the brainchild of Joni's On The Triangle hair salon owner Joanna Sporleder. Police Chief Mike Carter organized the event to provide a family-friendly festival in lieu of the canceled Sertoma Fireworks Show. 

The Sand Springs Community Band will perform on the stage of the great lawn as the sun begins to set over the Arkansas River. Fireworks will start shortly after local sunset at approximately 8:45 p.m.

Guests are invited to travel to the park by motorized vehicle and bring lawn chairs and blankets for a picnic style evening on the great lawn. The great lawn is a two-acre well-manicured, high-performance Bermuda turf lawn with an open air stage.

Porta potties and restrooms are available. Pets are allowed but Parks staff reminds guests to please keep them on a leash. The park is also a tobacco-free zone.

Mike and Pat Case donate $2 million for massive park renovation; Sand Springs breaks ground

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Mike Case gives an address at the Case Community Park groundbreaking ceremony. (Photo: Scott Emigh)

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

City of Sand Springs officials and Parks Department employees gathered together Tuesday morning at the Case Community Center to celebrate a new development in River City Park. The 100-acre park will receive a $6.2 million renovation thanks to Vision 2025 funding and a $2 million donation by Mike and Pat Case of Case & Associates. 

Artist rendering of the new Case Community Park entrance. (Courtesy)

What is currently known as River City Park is already the biggest park in Sand Springs and will soon become one of the nicest in Tulsa County thanks to Vision 2025 surplus funding and the Case family's benevolence. 

Tulsa County approved millions in surplus Vision 2025 sales tax funding for Sand Springs in February of last year and Case & Associates CEO Mike Case pledged an additional $2 million to fully fund the ambitious Sand Springs parks vision. 

Left to Right: Councilman Phil Nolan, Councilman Brian Jackson, Mayor Mike Burdge, Mike Case, Pat Case, Councilwoman Patty Dixon, Vice-Mayor John Fothergill, Councilman Beau Wilson. (Photo: Scott Emigh)

"This is only possible because of generous donors like Mike and Pat Case," said Sand Springs City Councilwoman Patty Dixon. "Even though Mike and Pat now reside in Tulsa, they have always considered Sand Springs home."

"I've always thought Sand Springs was a great place to live. I still do and I think it's getting better and better," said Mike Case. 

Artist rendering of the "Great Lawn" and amphitheater. (Courtesy)

Mayor Mike Burdge discussed the similarities in population and quality of living between Sand Springs and Broken Arrow when he was growing up. "What changed was the attitude of the leadership in the City," said Burdge. "If we can get this park to be a location spot, get stuff going on here every month...the possibilities are unlimited."

The park is already the home of the Sand Springs Soccer Club recreational league, the West Side Alliance competitive soccer league, Sand Springs Little League baseball and softball, the Round Up Club rodeo arena, and the Sand Springs BMX Association. The recent addition of the Rotary Club Super Splash Pad has rounded out what was already a destination park for many in the Sand Springs area. 

Planned layout for Case Community Park. (Courtesy)

The new funding will provide for the demolition of old structures and the construction of a new amphitheater. New sidewalks, signage, landscaping, and a large-scale entrance will add to the looks of the park.

Existing BMX track located in River City Parks. (Photo: Scott Emigh)

New sports facilities include two new youth baseball fields, a new tournament-sized soccer field, and a new half-court basketball court. An existing volleyball court will be renovated along with several horseshoe pits. The soccer fields, which currently have no special entrance, will receive a grand entry, as will the Jerry Adair Baseball Park, which is currently accessible only in a round-about way that requires leaving the park itself and driving down an industrial business road. An existing 18-hole disc golf course will be relocated deeper within the park in the area of the BMX track and Rodeo Arena. 

Accessibility will be a major feature of the new renovations, with drop-off locations throughout the park, new parking and lighting, and new park shelters and restrooms. Park beautification is also a major goal with plans for improved view of the Arkansas River, nearly a dozen custom art pieces laser cut in Corten Steel and illuminated at night, as well as a grassy area being dubbed the "Great Lawn." 

The Great Lawn will host a large outdoor pavilion and special event stage with remodeled restrooms and will be the premier viewing location for the annual Sertoma Fireworks Show, as well as will be the anchor location of the Chillin' and Grillin' Festival. 

Construction is already under way in Case Community Park. (Photo: Scott Emigh)

There will be a new playground constructed near the Rotary Super Splash Pad, which is already home to a large concessions building ran by Sand Springs Soccer Club President Jeremy Herrington. The concessions serves hot food and Harper's Hut Shaved Ice throughout the summer as a fundraiser for youth baseball and soccer. 

Public events like the Chilin' and Grillin' Festival, as well the newly revived Great Raft Race will be made even better due to new restroom housing, electrical power connections, water line service, and parking.

Parks Director Grant Gerondale expects the renovation to take about a year to complete.