Morgan City and Berwick throw bashes for July 3

Sunday was as hot as a firecracker: 91 degrees officially with humidity to spare.
But thousands turned out anyway for Independence Day celebrations in Morgan City, where people were Rock the 3rd at Lawrence Park, and Berwick, which had its own Rockin’ the Riverfront event.
“We’re excited to be here today celebrating Independence Day,” said Berwick Town Council member Jacki Ackel, “celebrating our nation and getting back to the celebration of America that our nation deserves.”
Both events included live music, food being sold by the Marine Corps League in Morgan City and the Volunteer Fire Department in Berwick, and a fireworks show over Berwick Bay to put an exclamation point on the day.
Ackel and Mayor Louis Ratcliff were glad to show off the improvements made over the last few years on Berwick’s side of the riverfront, including paving and pavilions.
“We’re hoping to have 2,000 here for the fireworks tonight,” Ratcliff said.
In the meantime, in the late afternoon, the band Old Soul was playing on the Berwick side.
“They were playing some Stevie Ray Vaughan,” Ackel said. “I like that.”
About an hour later, Category 6 was playing an energetic set at Morgan City’s Lawrence Park. Not far away, members of the St. Mary Detachment of the Marine Corps League were selling barbecue and plate lunches.
It’s a big job for the league.
“We started cooking about a week ago, preparing the stuff, getting stuff lined up,” said David Martin, commandment of the state Marine Corps League. “We got here about 8 a.m. this morning. And we got here last night to set up. We started getting warmed up today.”
The payoff comes in support for a variety of league projects.
“Of course, you know us mostly for toys for tots,” Martin said. “But one of the things they don’t know about is the Police Appreciation Banquet that we give for the top cops in the area.
“We also have a scholarship program where we give scholarships out to high school students who are going on to college. We also honor Boy Scouts who are going on from the regular Boy Scouts up to Eagle Scouts, because that’s a huge accomplishment. There’s only a handful of those in the world. “