MEDIA RELEASE__A small town hoopla is one way to describe the exuberant preparations being made in Bluffton to celebrate the Fourth of July on America’s 250^th year. 

Military encampment at Main and Cherry
The event kicks off on July 3 when Ryan Burkholder sets up a sample military encampment and a MASH unit from the Korean and Iraq wars on the Presbyterian Church lawn. You can see how the soldiers cooked, slept and lived under harsh conditions. An encampment from an earlier time will be set up the next day by Robert Glenn, who dresses as an 1812 woodman for various living history events. He will have a Revolutionary War tent, and some artifacts from frontier life.

Meet 19th-century surveyors
Captain Riley (Darrell Groman) and Henry Wing (Keith Sommer) will set up a display of surveying instruments and related items, circa 1820s. They will be happy to answer questions about early Bluffton and how Riley Creek got its name. They will be in the Presbyterian Church Gazebo in the morning until about 3:00 p.m.