By Visit Lake County Contributor Denise Gentes

What better place is there to celebrate the birthday of America than with the Navy as Naval Station Great Lakes celebrates its birthday as well?

Since 1911, Navy recruits have been going through the Naval Station Great Lakes to receive training, go through boot camp, and go from civilians into sailors. The Naval Station Great Lakes will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year with a huge Fourth of July celebration. Since the end of Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, Great Lakes is the only base in the country to train Naval recruits.

This Fourth of July the base will be celebrating its incredible history with a weekend-long celebration. The event kicks off on Saturday, July 2nd with a carnival, live boxing matches, a puppet show, Sweet Tomatoes sponsored eating contest, a performance from the Navy band, and more food than your stomach will know how to handle. Throughout the weekend there will also be bingo, a craft show and historical tours. Sunday, July 3rd will feature a 5K run/walk in the morning, as well as a performance from Saving Abel later in the evening. A motorcyle stunt show will perform multiple times in the afternoon, and at approximately 9:30pm the fireworks will begin. Finally, on the 4th of July, bands covering the likes of John Mellencamp, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash and the Beatles will perform, and the night will end with an even bigger firework display than the evening before.

Admission to the base is free all weekend, and this is one celebration that can only happen once every 100 years, so why miss it? For more information, be sure to look for the event's page on facebook "Naval Station Great Lakes July 4th Celebration" or check on our website visitlakecounty.org.

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