I know I am going to sound like a broken record, getting into another topic about volunteering, but it is my job to be that voice that says to you, “Time to get up and do it again.” I am supposed to sound like a broken record. I am supposed to nudge you into volunteer mode. I get paid to do this to you.

Here is what we know: local volunteers just spent hundreds of hours to pull off a four-day weekend honoring our veterans and taking visitors on tours of historic places. They prepared and served meals to hundreds of guests who were here to visit the cemetery, enjoy reunions, and take part in local events. They put the best face on our public areas and business district. They were genuinely pleased to welcome home alumni, former residents, and family members.

The 2013 Memorial Day weekend was a good one for the books. Everyone had a great time in the old hometown!

Guess what? It is time to do it all over again! It is time to look ahead to the 92nd Annual July Fourth Celebration, just a month away.

The success of this time-honored holiday tradition in our community will depend on the involvement of local volunteers. Just as the American Legion needed your help with the Avenue of Flags, the Peabody Historical Society needed your attendance on the tours, and the HUB and sophomore class needed your support for their events, the Fourth Celebration Society needs you too.

They need volunteers to help build the ground displays, work the gates, be in the parade, help with the car show, the pet show, the flea market, the poker tournament, the horseshoe tournament, the kids’ games, and probably a dozen other things I don’t know about. If you cannot find the time to volunteer, the committee needs you to make a contribution toward the set pieces, the aerial displays, the mortars, or the famous Battle of New Orleans. Better yet, do both.

This will be the 92nd year that we have played host to thousands of visitors at Peabody City Park for a spectacular Independence Day celebration. I think it speaks well of the community that hundreds of groups and individuals have stepped up to the plate for 90-plus years to put on a hometown celebration that has stood the test of time for one of the best events in the state on July Fourth.

The only reason it continues is because of local volunteers who have been helping in some way for decades. It is time to sign up and get on that list. Watch this column in the next few weeks for specific ways that you can help.

Be a volunteer—community activities need each one of you.

— SUSAN MARSHALL