2025 4th of July Review and Photos
A hearty thank you to Overall Event Chair Amanda Rule, her two other Park Overlook committee members Ashley Chaney and Mandie DeWine, and the over 60 other volunteers for a wonderful 4th of July event – an event many would say was even better than last year, which event last year “may well have been the best Colonial Hills 4th of July subsequent to fifty years ago …”
Even better than last year? The overall event chair and her team, and the Event Chairs for the 5K Race Jeff Spain and Courtney Jolley, the Event Chairs for the Kiddie Parade Mary Ann Ogle and Robin Ogle, Emcee Chris Rule, plus Ron Sears, the Midway Master, and the CHCA Officers, all spent months planning for, and then flawlessly executing, our 2025 Fourth of July Extravaganza.
All the delightful activities from last year were back – a double lane slip ‘n’ slide, little kids bounce house, big kids bounce house, dunk tank, face painting, Kona Ice, Cotton Candy, both a youth and an adult watermelon eating contest, and new for this year, the Colonial Hills Cub Scout Pack 331 providing the food – burgers, hot dogs, chips and pop, and of course, the midway games and activities.
Games, games and more games: the traditional games Plinko, Go Fish, Duck Pond, Ring Toss, Lollipop Tree; Ron’s new games and activities from last year Bubble Whack, Riot Ball, Gravity Well and Buttons & Pictures; and Ron’s new games for this year Axe Throw and Air Race ( download an Air Race video here ) – with all games and activities comfortably housed under ten new pop-up tents donated by Ron – and highlighted with Ron’s streamers over the midway as the CHCA’s 79th 4th of July!
Also, a great big thanks to our sponsor Cynthia MacKenzie, CYMACK Real Estate for their generous support of our event.
And a final thank you to Kate LaLonde, Executive Director, Worthington Historical Society (WHS), who researched and edited newspaper articles about the CHCA’s founding and its early 4th of July celebrations into a poster-sized montage PDF, a poster which we proudly displayed this year at our CHCA Suggestions for Next Year tent.
Note: The large 49 megabyte size of this PDF will delay its display by a few seconds.
The winners in our competitions were:
Race Results
The 5k Race Co-Chairs Courtney Jolley and Jeff Spain and their volunteers yet again made this event run like clockwork, from publicity and signup to the runners and walkers competing and enjoying the course thru Colonial Hills, the 46th running of this traditional Colonial Hills event.
We congratulate everyone who participated, and this year we are thrilled to announce the following spectacular times for the overall winning male and female runners:
- Zane Keppler (15:17.44) – a new Run Through the Hills course record!
- Riley Tate (18:18.17) – the 4th best ever female time!
Please click on the links below to view:
- Overall Finish List Results
- Results by Age Group
- Our Race Results Archive, 1998-2025
- Or, select the Race website Results tab for searchable and age-group results
2025 Kiddie Parade Winners, by Category
Long-time Kiddie Parade Chair Mary Ann Ogle, along with her Co-Chair Robin Ogle, again expertly planned and conducted this traditional 4th of July event, which started after the 5k Race awards had been handed out, and as soon as Robin and Mary Ann could organize the participants at the starting line. And as usual, Mary Ann firmly maintained safety for all the participants, by putting the hammer down on the speeding bicyclists who were well ahead of the pack, as these speedsters completed their first lap around Selby Park. And the kids (with maybe some parental assistance) did a great job this year decorating their mode of transportation!
Mary Ann and Robin thank their judges: Jim Kidd, Kay Hoffman, Patrick and Jenna Bracken, Chris Wethington, and Kathy Moore, who took on the hard task of selecting the most festive decorations in the parade for these winners in the following categories:
Bicycles
1st place tie- Eli Thines (6yrs) and Hannah Hughes (6yrs)
2nd place group- Joey (4yrs) Emily (2yrs) Mittelman, Noah (15yrs) Mertz
3rd place tie- Bowen Reed (8yrs) and Elijah Fry (8yrs)
Strollers
1st place- Amy Guerrer (1yr)
2nd place- Brittany Smith (Leo) (23mo)
3rd place- Torre Rehr (14mo)
Scooters
1st place tie- Evelyn White (9yrs) and Iris Johnson (9yrs)
2nd place- Adam (7yrs) and Anthony (4yrs) Long
3rd place- Grant Bednar (3yrs)
Wagons and Floats
1st place- Emma (3yrs) and Sophia (3yrs)
2nd place- Rowan (5yrs) Masie (1yr) Best
3rd place- Miriah (14mo) Ellis
Dogs and Walkers
1st place- Betty (1yr)
2nd place tie- Tommy and Moode
Notes: If you did not collect your prize ribbon at the awards presentation on the 4th, Mrs. Ogle will give your ribbon to you at any Civic Association meeting at the shelter house.
If there are any corrections to this information please e-mail the CHCA webmaster Will Pearce at willpearce@columbus.rr.com
Watermelon Eating Contest Winners, by Category
The firm, but immensely entertaining, judge for the two contests made sure that the following winners were the first in their age group to finish their slice so that absolutely, and indisputably, no red was showing:
Youth- A. Buckley
Adult- Donovan LaDuke
(And now for the photos – please click the “Continue reading” link below to see these pics which have the descriptions given below – photographer credit: CHCA Webmaster, unless credited otherwise to Chris Rule, CHCA VP/Communications)
_01 Runners are being checked in – longstanding volunteer Christine with clipboard
_02 8:28 AM -The runners gather before the start of the race
_03 The runners are on their way for the 46th Annual Run Through the Hills 5k!
_04 Jeff joins the race at the back
_05 Jason crosses the finish line in 2nd place, over 30 seconds ahead of 3rd place runner
_06 9:17 AM – the dunk tank is being filled, and the midway has been provisioned with the traditional games
_07 Overall male and female winners Zane and Riley – Credit: Chris Rule, VP/Communications
_08 Cynthia medals!
_09 Jeff and Courtney have presented medal to Erin R. in female 40 to 49 age group
_10 Natalie has received her first place award, female age 30-39
_11 Lukas, first place male 13-19, has received his medal
_12 Medalists, L to R: Joan, 2nd F 50-59; Taylor, 1st M 60-Over; Suzanne, 2nd F 60-Over; Cynthia, 3rd F 50-59
_13 9:36 AM – Ron, Leslie and Alan work on completing the midway
_14 Robin is getting everyone ready for the start of the Kiddie Parade
_15 A jet bicycle getting ready for takeoff – Credit: Chris Rule, VP/Communications
_16 The Kiddie Parade has started – Credit: Chris Rule, VP/Communications
_17 Chris and Mary Ann loudly preventing speeders
_18 Co-Chairs Robin and Mary Ann begin to present ribbons to the winners (or their parents) for the various categories of the Kiddie Parade
_19 Mary Ann presents a ribbon for first place dogs
_20 First place dog Betty poses for her photo
_21 Kiddie Parade ribbon winners
_22 Kiddie Parade ribbon winners
_23 The CHCA 4th of July midway has opened! – Credit: Chris Rule/VP Communications
_24 The Plinko and Duck Pond games in their midway tents – Credit: Chris Rule/VP Communications
_25 The Riot Ball, Lollipop Tree and Bubble Whack games in their midway tents – Credit: Chris Rule/VP Communications
_26 Jay and inventor Ron with the Air Raid game; Buttons and Pictures at right – Credit: Chris Rule/VP Communications
_27 Face painting – Credit: Chris Rule, CHCA VP/Communications
_28 The double-lane slip ‘n’ slide
_29 Good throwing form, but the ball from the young pitcher is too low …
_30 However, Karen allows a manual assist to complete the dunk!
_31 The mayhem of Bubble Whack, one of Ron’s new games from last year
_32 At the Lollipop Tree
_33 The Riot Balls are rarely all stationary, but contestants are allowed prizes anyway
_34 The volunteers are intent for the success of the Duck Pond contestant’s efforts
_35 The inscrutable results of the traditional game Plinko make it a favorite, year after year
_36 A new favorite from last year is Buttons & Pictures
_37 A contestant collects her prize for the Gravity Well game
_38 Axe Throw is one of Ron’s new games for 2025 – the second axe thrown is wide right!
_39 Gone Fishing is a traditional favorite
_40 The Toddler Bounce House
_41 Brittany monitors the correct number of kids at a time in the Big Kids Bounce House
_42 Chris takes a turn in the dunk tank; the photographer rests in the tent
_43 Relaxing under the Big Tent
_44 Kona Ice
_45 Event Chair Amanda
_46 Colonial Hills Cub Scout Pack 331 provided yummy burgers, hot dogs, chips and pop for the extravaganza – thank you!
_47 Cotton Candy for two celebrants!
_48 A girl wins a sticker in this Girl Scouts activity (see the leader board in background)
_49 Gray Performance Physio
_50 The no-nonsense judge explains that the winner will be the first to have absolutely no red showing on their slice! – Credit: Chris Rule/VP Communications
_51 The youth contestants furiously chomp away at their watermelon slices
_52 And the winner is A. Buckley
_53 The adult contests via for watermelon eating glory
_54 And the winner is Donovan LaDuke – congratulations!
_55 Jay, Leslie and Alan at the Suggestions Tent – come to a CHCA meeting!
