Unalaska, AK – Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and, as usual, there will be plenty to do in Unalaska.

"We have a lot going on tomorrow," said Parks, Culture & Recreation Department Recreation Manager Christine King. "I've been here for five years, and it's the busiest Fourth of July I've seen in my time here."

King gives most of the credit for this to Johanna Tellman, who's spearheaded an effort to bring back some favorite Fourth of July activities that longtime Unalaska residents will remember. The events will be taking place at Tutiakoff Softball Park before the annual parade down Main Street. They include:

-Potato sack, egg-and-spoon and crab walk races for kids from four to 12 years old.

-A water balloon toss and watermelon-eating contest for all ages.

-The ever-popular ugly dog and ugly truck contest.

-The pretty baby contest, for infants less than a year old, and the baby crawl.

Tellman says she remembers these sorts of activities from when she was growing up here, and wanted to make sure today's kids would have the same opportunity.

"They used to do those activities when we were younger, and then year by year they slowly lost [them]," she said. "So since I was going to be here with my family, I wanted to make sure fun things are happening for the kids."

The activities at the softball park start at 11 a.m. and will wrap up before the parade, which is going to be a little different this year, too. It will start on Main Street in front of the Alyeska Seafoods plant, as always, but instead of looping back around Front Beach it will continue up Main to Eagle's View Elementary School.

Floats will be judged in front of the parade's starting point at 2:30 p.m., and the parade itself starts at 3 p.m.

There are other events on tap tomorrow, too:

-The PCR will be offering a free beadwork class, in which you can learn how to make a beadwork American flag, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

-Softball championships will be taking place at Kelty Field following the parade.

-Coastal and Dutch Harbor Services are hosting a 4 p.m. barbeque at the Coastal Dock behind the Eagle Store, where events will include a fishing derby with cash prizes and tugboat rides for kids.

-As usual, the city's fireworks display is scheduled for nightfall.

Local and state government offices will be closed tomorrow on account of the holiday, as will the school district offices, the library and Key Bank.

For a complete listing visit our events page.