Cartersville’s annual Fourth of July celebration returns in 2024 with events on Thursday, July 4th. The events are presented by the Rotary Club of Etowah with WBHF FM 100.3 and AM 1450 coordinating the parade with the Rotary Club. The presenting sponsor for the parade is Shottenkirk Honda. The parade down Main Street in downtown Cartersville begins at 9 a.m. in the Tabernacle Baptist Church parking lot. The procession, which leaves Douglas Street, turns right onto Church Street, then continues to make a left on Bartow Street, left on Main Street, left on Tennessee Street and left on East Church Street. It ends back at the church.
This year’s Grand Marshal is Mark Thompson. He is the founder of Phoenix Air in Cartersville and a recent inductee into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Also being honored as Junior Grand Marshal is Austin Herre. Austin is soon to be four years old and battling leukemia. We will also be honoring our veterans and first responders.
“Shottenkirk Honda continues their commitment and leadership in supporting our parade as the presenting sponsor, and our club is extremely appreciative. Our parade continues to grow, and we are still actively looking for parade participants”, stated WBHF station manager and Rotary Club of Etowah member, Matt Santini, when asked about the parade. “The Fourth of July Parade is one of the community service projects that we have taken on here at WBHF, and we are working with the Rotary Club of Etowah to continue the tradition of this parade.”
Proceeds from the parade benefit local charities through the Rotary Club of Etowah. A parade application and information about the parade can be found on the Etowah Rotary Club website at
etowahrotary.com/4th-of-july or you can find the link at
wbhfradio.org.
The July 4th Celebration at Dellinger Park is a community- wide event that includes Arts & Crafts, children’s activities, entertainment and the largest fireworks ever!! All activities, other than the downtown parade, are on Thursday, July 4th at Dellinger Park on the huge football field. Park activities start at 4:00 p.m. and continue until 10:00 p.m.
VIP Tables are available at Dellinger Park. For $200 you get a reserved table for ten that will give you a great view of the Century Bank Concert Stage and the fireworks show and a reserved parking spot at the park. These tables must be reserved in advance of the event. The VIP form is also available online at
etowahrotary.com/4th-of-july.
Admission to Dellinger Park is free and parking is $10.00 per vehicle. More than 15,000 people are expected to celebrate the Fourth of July at Dellinger Park. Organizers of the activities at Dellinger say that Thanks to City of Cartersville, Bartow County and Century Bank of Georgia that they will again have a huge fireworks display. Glenda Mitchell Law Firm has a special fireworks viewing area. Spaces for that are being through an online contest on their social media pages. Fireworks will launch from Dellinger Park about 9:30 p.m.
There will also be live entertainment on the Century Bank of Georgia Stage that will feature local entertainment all day then Scott Thompson performs an acoustic show starting from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m., then Scott Thompson and Peachtree Station perform at 8:00 p.m. and take us on a musical ride until fireworks!!
About our Grand Marshal Mark Thompson:
Mark Thompson was born in Atlanta, GA in 1951, son of Tommy and Margaret Thompson. Both parents learned to fly at Parkair Field in Cobb County, GA in the 1940’s in a Stearman PT-17.
Mark attended Northside High School in Atlanta, graduating in 1969. After one year of college, he joined the U.S. Army as a Warrant Officer Candidate and trained to fly helicopters. By 1972 the Army had too many helicopter pilots and Mark was offered an early release from his military commitment. He used his GI Bill benefits to transition to fixed wing aircraft. While attending West Georgia College, he opened his first business – a local skydiving center - and got it included as an official PE course at West Georgia College, and Mark began offering Skydiving 101 and 102 to fellow students.
After moving back to Atlanta, Mark became Chief Pilot for Modern Professional Air based at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. He later partnered in Georgia Air Freight based at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. He also continued to fly skydivers and personally amassed over 2,000 aerial jumps in his logbook.
In the mid-1970’s Mark started a passenger airline Phoenix Airlines at PDK, operating De Havilland DH-114 Herons across the Southeast. In 1978 he started Phoenix Air, later moving it from PDK to the Cartersville-Bartow County Airport, soon after becoming Phoenix Air Group, Inc.
Phoenix Air grew over the years and today employs 350 aviation professionals, owns and operates over 45 aircraft, and has offices in several states, Germany, Malta and Crete. Phoenix Air developed the world’s first airborne biocontainment system called the Aeromedical Biological Containment System (ABCS) first pressed into service during the 2014 Ebola epidemic making over 40 lifesaving transports of extremely contagious Ebola patients out of western Africa to advanced medical treatment centers.
Today Phoenix Air is a major contractor to the U.S. Government, holding 11 different federal contracts. It is the U.S. Department of State’s primary air ambulance provider worldwide and is the air services contractor to DOD’s U.S. Africa Command flying to over 110 locations on the African continent.
Mark Thompson is president of Phoenix Air Group, Inc. and has over 30,000 hours Total Time, over 1,000 hours helicopter time, and is ATP typed in Falcon 20, Learjet, Gulfstream G-159, Gulfstream G1159, CE500, Airplane Single Engine Land & Sea, and Rotorcraft Helicopter.
Mark annually flies his Augusta Westland AW109 helicopter from Cartersville, GA to Anchorage, AK for use all summer fishing outside Anchorage where he has a cabin.
Mark lives on his 250-acre horse farm in rural Bartow County, GA and his son Matthew is now a First officer flying Gulfstream jets for Phoenix Air.
Mark was also a prominent NASCAR driver and holds the NASCAR record as the oldest driver to ever complete the Daytona 500 Race.
About our Junior Grand Marshal Austin Herre:
On January 15, 2023, at only 2.5 years old, Austin was diagnosed with Leukemia.
He began treatment just 3 short days later. His treatment has consisted of oral chemo, intravenous chemo, intrathecal chemo, steroids, more than 20 spinal taps, 3 bone marrow biopsies, 3 x-rays, 3 CT scans, & so much more.
Through it all, he has remained positive and continues to keep a smile on his face for his parents and baby sister Oakley. Upon his diagnosis, he had to be taken out of preschool and has fallen a little behind his classmates. Chemo has also robbed him of balance, strength, & endurance. He is currently in physical therapy a minimum of twice a week to try to regain what he has lost. He’s having to re-learn how to jump, walk correctly, and run.
Leukemia treatment has been no walk in the park for him. With the numerous types of chemo Austin has been given, he has experienced many side effects. Just a few examples are; neuropathy, mouth sores, vomiting, a lung fungal infection, c-diff, neutropenia, hair loss (twice), neurotoxicity, rapid weight loss, & many more.
Austin will turn 4 on July 6th. Much of his childhood has been spent in the hospital and in clinic receiving chemo at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta - Scottish Rite.
God willing, after a total of 851 days, he will complete his treatment on May 18, 2025 and finally ring the bell.
