A performer cracked whips with fire, youth brought frogs of all sizes to jump in the annual contest, and watermelon and ice cream eating contests, sponsored by Meijer and Coldstone Creamery, were all part of the 2013 Ontario 4th of July Festival. The festival was hosted at the Ontario Middle School and featured a variety of activities for the family. Despite a bit of rain in the afternoon, the parade and other activities continued, and people lined the streets for miles to see the Ontario fireworks.
Performer Aaron Bonk, a whip artist and a juggler originally from the east side of Cleveland, stood on a small platform as a one-man show in the middle of the festivities on Friday and cracked flaming whips. He said that he used to do a lot of shows, but now he mainly performs on cruise, and devotes one to two months out of the year at festivals. This was Bonk’s first year at the Ontario 4th of July Festival.
He’s been performing for about fourteen years. “My influence was Indiana Jones,” Bonk stated. “I’ve always thought whips were really neat, so when I was doing juggling, a friend of mine showed me how to crack a whip.”
Four divisions of Frog Jumping, sponsored by the Ontario Lion’s Club, was a popular event. The youth brought frogs to compete in a three-jump distance competition. The ‘Lilly-Pad’, made from a parachute pinned to the ground, was the competition field. Children brought their frogs in various buckets and coolers full of water and employed a number of strategies from prompting their frogs forward, clapping their hands together, stomping and hitting the pad behind them to get the frogs to jump.
The longest frog jump cleared the perimeter of the parachute; Kiley Harriman’s frog went fifteen feet, five inches in three hops winning her division. Harriman received medals, for first, second, and third within all four divisions, and each winner then competed in the final round. Austin Parrigan also took home a trophy for a frog which jumped no less than thirteen feet six inches, and won with a final jump of fourteen feet.
This was Parrigan’s first year competing and was up against his friend Seth Wasilewski, a 2010 championship winner of the Frog Jumping contest. Though there was some friendly competition between the two that day, Wasilewski was glad to see his friend win, stating, “Our frog pond houses champions.” With a frog from the Wasilewski’s pond, Parrigan said he would be back next year, defending his title as championship winner 2013.
Both boys play baseball together with the Mid-Ohio Diamond Dogs. Parrigan rotates as pitcher and 3rd baseman and Wasilweski is an outfielder.
The festival concluded that evening with a fireworks display at the Ontario Middle School. Families opened their picnic blankets, sat on open hatchbacks, and stood in groups lining the streets, watching the sky erupt in color.
