Ross Township to Celebrate Fourth of July Sunday

Ross Township’s 15th annual Independence Day Celebration will be Sunday. There will be activities from around 11 a.m. until 1 a.m., including a car cruise, parade, children's activities, live music and movie in the park.

The day's schedule:

Noon - 3:30 p.m.: The ninth annual CADD Club car cruise

The event at the North Hills High School parking lot, 53 Rochester Road, will feature classic, custom and new cars, trucks, motorcycles and SUVs. Refreshments will be available for purchase. There also will be prizes and raffles. Admission is free for spectators.    

The entry fee is $10 for participating vehicles. Registration will begin at noon, and student judging begins at 1 p.m. and concludes at 2:30 p.m.

More than 30 trophies and awards will be presented. Dash plaques and gift bags will be given to the first 100 vehicles. All participating vehicles are eligible and encouraged to cruise in the Ross Township Independence Day Parade, which begins at 4 p.m.

The event will be held rain or shine. Proceeds benefit the Computer-Aided Drafting & Design Club.

3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: The annual Fourth of July parade

Staging begins at 3 p.m. in the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot at 920 Perry Highway. The parade will begin at 4 p.m., proceeding north on Perry Highway, passing the Perrysville Volunteer Fire Department and the reviewing stand and ending at Brandt's Funeral Home.

Perry Highway will be closed at Rochester Road to Three Degree Road during the parade.

5 p.m.: Children's activities at the Ross Township Community Center

Immediately after the parade, there will be activities for children at the Ross Township Community Center, including arts and crafts, face painting, inflatables and a variety of games. A concession stand will serve food and drink.

Parking will be available in the parking lot along McKnight Road. There will be a free shuttle from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. between the parking lot and the community center.

7 - 9:30 p.m.: Live music at the community center

The band Kardaz will perform classic rock sounds of the 1960s and 1970s.

9:30 p.m.: Fireworks by Pyrotechnico

The fireworks will be launched from the property of the Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center on Cemetery Lane. Ross residents say the best spots to view the show are from the hill at the Ross Township Community Center or the parking lot at 235 Cemetery Lane, home to the Ross Township Fire Police and its public works facility.

Immediately after the fireworks: Movie in the Park

Bring blankets or chairs to the free movie Avatar (PG-13), a science-fiction film directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver. The film will be shown at the Ross Township Community Center.

The Movies in the Park Program is a joint program by the townships of Ross, Marshall, Ohio and Richland and Franklin Park Borough. Funding is from a Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society government grant.

Other Fourth of July events in or near the North Hills:

2-9:30 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Monday, Hampton Township Community Day and Fourth Celebrations

Both days' events will be at the Hampton Township Park, 2301 McCully Road, in Allison Park. Sunday's activities include a free swim, all ages, at the outdoor pool starting at 2 p.m., games, hay ride and food and activity booths from 6 p.m. to dusk and a free oldies concert by The MaGuires from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. followed by "low-level" fireworks at the soccer fields.

Monday's activities include a 5K run/walk starting at 7:30 a.m., food, activity booths, petting zoo and foul-shooting contest from 1 to 4 p.m., an 18th-century artillery live fire demonstration at 2 p.m., a rock concert from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. followed by a fireworks show by Pyrotecnico.

9:35 p.m. Monday: City of Pittsburgh fireworks show

Featured during the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta, the EQT “Flashes of Freedom” Fireworks Fantasia will be a 25-minute display produced by Pyrotecnico.