A lot of people arrived at Heritage Park in downtown Junction City for the Fireworks Extravaganza that capped off Sundown Salute Tuesday night. That was preceded by musical concerts by the 1st Infantry Division Rock Band and 1st Infantry Division Band on the final evening of the annual celebration.

Dennis Beson, Volunteer Executive Director for Sundown Salute, enjoyed the success of the five day celebration. “Well I think that we showed that we could pull something off, that maybe a lot of people didn’t think we could. So I think maybe that’s the best part.”

Organizers got a late start this year on preparing for Sundown Salute including fundraising but in the end it worked. Beson commented on the next step. “Well we’ve got to do our reevaluation on everything, we’ve got to count up all the numbers, see where we’re at, and then we’ve got to decided what worked and what didn’t work, and then maybe make a plan for next year.”

Beson noted there were good vendors this year at the celebration, and for the available budget there was “top notch talent.” The Director added, “I think that we established the fact we can run leaner and still get good talent, and then maybe we look at some things that are accessory things like during the daytime for kids and families, but ultimately we may change some things and maybe we look at just a weekend event versus five days.” All final decisions for the 2018 celebration are still in the future.

The activities on Tuesday also included the 41st annual Freedom Run, the Sundown Salute parade and the Veterans Ceremony.