Exchange Club to present July 4 Fireworks at WLAC

The Culver City Exchange Club’s 50th annual July 4th Fireworks Show will take place at West Los Angeles College Monday, July 4 near Jefferson, at West Los Angeles College, 9000 Overland Ave., Culver City. Gates open at 4 p.m. and fireworks will begin at dusk.

The suggested donation is $5 per person ($0 for children age 5 and under). Parking is $10 and limited. To encourage carpooling, the maximum admission donation for four or more guests in a single vehicle is $20 plus the parking fee. That means a car with six passengers will pay only $30, instead of $40. Commercial vans, buses and mini-buses are excluded from the “Car Pool Deal.”

“This will be our 50th year of bringing this family-friendly celebration to Culver City. People who first came as kids will be arriving with their kids or even their grandkids. We’re excited,” said event Co-Chair Xavier Nuques. “And we’ve got a very special pyrotechnics provider this year – Garden State Fireworks — one of the country’s oldest family-owned fireworks companies. Garden State has won several international fireworks competitions.

“For more than 125 years, these guys have been entertaining crowds from the White House and Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Mall to the Super Bowl and New York Harbor.”

Guests can catch the Culver City bus to the event, which will be running on their holiday schedule found at www.CulverCity.org. The fireworks viewing spot will move to the vast college baseball and practice field. Carnival games, gourmet food trucks and the raffle tent will be in the adjacent parking lot.

Adding to the festive atmosphere will be a special “Kids Zone” with carnival games and a mega-raffle where the grand prizes include a big screen TV, an aerial tour of Los Angeles and week-long luxury stay in Las Vegas. As in past years, guests will be able to sample the fare of more than a dozen gourmet food trucks. Guests may bring picnic baskets, blankets and low chairs. Tents and umbrellas along with pets, alcoholic beverages and smoking all are prohibited.  Limited seating and handicapped parking are available.

To celebrate the contributions of our nation’s veterans, the live entertainment will feature the New Directions for Vets Choir – a finalist on TV’s “America’s Got Talent.” Comprised of formerly homeless and addicted veterans, the choir will also sing the National Anthem as an all veteran’s color guard raises the nation’s flag. Starting at 6:00 pm, Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps will entertain the crowd with their original music.

Proceeds from this event will be used to help to combat child abuse and to support local youth programs including college scholarships for deserving students. Some of the other programs support by the event are the YMCA, the Culver Youth Health Center and “Backpacks for Kids,” a program that provides supplemental weekend food and nutrition to children from needy families. For more information, visit CulverCityFireworksShow.com.