4th of July Celebration is on Track! Just two days following the announcement that the Martinsville 4th of July Celebration event was at risk of not taking place, Clay Campbell, Martinsville Speedway President (left), announced today that the celebration will go forward.   Immediately after the announcement was made that funding was a problem for the event, the community came together to make this free even possible again.    Several companies came forward to sponsor the event, and the goal has already been achieved for funding.  Mr. Campbell stated that calls were also received individuals in the community wanting to help ensure this event was not canceled. The photos here are from the news conference held at 2:00pm on Thursday, February 8, 2008, at the Martinsville Speedway Media Center.   Standing with Mr. Clay Campbell are representatives from many of the companies  and organizations that came forward to sponsor the event.

Sponsors present for this picture (front, from the left).  George Lester of the Lester Group; Rick Magee of Frith Construction; Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; J.E. Pigg of Millards Machinery; Jeb Bassett of Bassett Furniture; Paul Toms of Hooker Funiture Corp.;  (Back, from left)  Sheriff Lane Perry representing Henry County; Bill Martin of Blue Ridge Aquaculture; Jay Edelen of J.G. Edelen Co.; Ron Haley of River Community Bank; Len Barrow of Gardner, Gardner, Barrow & Sharpe; Don Hodges of West Window Corp.; Jeff Scheffer of Stanley Furniture Co.; and Joe Roach of Memorial Hospital.  Sponsors not present are Steve Martin Trenching, American of Martinsville, the city of Martinsville, and the Martinsville Speedway Children's Foundation.   The 4th of July Celebration event grew out of the annual 4th of July fireworks display and celebration put on by the Henry County Parks and Recreation Department held at the Henry County Administration Building.  In 1999, Hooker Furniture Company and Stanley Furniture Company were both celebrating their 75th anniversaries and were looking for a way to make it a community celebration.  They joined with the Henry County Parks and Recreation Department to make the event bigger, moved the show to Martinsville Speedway and brought in big time entertainment, Confederate Railroad.   After the success of the 1999 event, Martinsville Speedway President clay Campbell thought the event too beneficial for the community to let it die and went about obtaining local sponsorship for the event. The Henry County Parks and Recreation Department ran the 2000 event, with Montgomery Gentry as the feature entertainment. Martinsville Speedway offered to take over scheduling and staffing after the 2000 event, beginning with Celebration 2001, featuring Charlie Daniels. The event has continued to grow both in terms of crowds and bands. Since 2001, the entertainment in chronological order has been: Aaron Tippin, Tracy Byrd, Rick Pony, Trace Atkins, Blake Shelton, and Diamond Rio.   An announcement regarding the entertainment for the 2008 event will be made later this month.