It takes a village . . . We’ve all heard that quote and it’s never been more true that for the Allen Independence Day Celebration.

This past Saturday a good crowd gathered at 4:00 p.m. to enjoy the parade through downtown Allen. The show was led by the Allen Police Chief, Brett Edens, and the 2022 Parade Marshal Joy McDonald Anderson. It was followed by emergency vehicles from the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office, the Tribal Police, and Allen Fire Department. They were followed by tractors, bikes, golf carts and ATVs, cars and animals.

Winners in the decorated bike division were Maddie Milne, Jeter King and Annie King; Bill Tollett’s bright green 1972 Dodge Challenger won the car division; Charles Speir won in the tractor division; and placings in the animal division were Bryar Wilson and Maddie Crabtree with horses and Brinlee Nemecek for her goats. The golf cart division had the most entries but awards went to George and Karla Cramer, 1st place, with their patriotic dog on top; 2 nd place was Julie Mills and grandkids Ryn, Jude and Wylder Parker, Creed and Deacon Sanford, riding with a circus theme and an American Eagle; 3 rd place was Brady Crabtree with his American and Trump flags flying.

The event then moved to the Allen City Park where an inflatable water slide was kept busy with youngsters of all ages. The pool was open for a free swim, and a variety of games were held on the park’s tennis courts including turtle races, sack races, hula hoop contests, egg races and a water balloon toss.

The Mr. and Ms. Independence Day costume contest was won by Sam Johnson and Sally Dean. The kid’s contest was won by Claire Baber and Maddie Milne.

Hot dogs, chips, pop and snow cones kept everyone fed and happy, and the music of the RCB Band was enjoyed by all in attendance.

At 9:00 the event moved again, this time to the Allen softball field south of town for the reworks display. It was a full day of fun!

Thanks go out to all who attended and participated in the day’s events. It was estimated over 300 enjoyed the activities at the Allen Park.

Special thanks to all those who donated their time, resources and expertise to make the day such a success. These include (and we apologize in advance for names left off): Pepsi Bottling of Ada, Dottie and Alan King, Lorissa and Corby King, Dayne and Jordyn Mills, Julie and Greg Mills, Heather Prentice and the Allen Health Clinic, Farmers State Bank, the Allen Fire Department, Allen Country Junction, Dianna Brannan, Destiny Graham, Melanie Merriman, Aaron Iker, Allie Plunk, Bruce Plunk, Cole Young, Lonni Rinehart, the Town of Allen, the SnoCone trailer, Leon Moore, and Doug Stinson.