Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press

Jaron Shellenberger, 8, and his cousin Gracie Sauter, 9, work on their sand castle creation during the sand-castle competition at the Fourth at the Lake Friday in St. Joseph. Jaron said they weren’t looking to win the competition, but just to have fun. The two said they placed third last year.

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No one can question Carol Yager’s patriotism or her commitment to family get-togethers at Lake Contrary. She’s got 61 years of celebrating the Fourth of July behind her.

This year’s Fourth at the Lake event drew a respectable crowd for its annual event that included a cardboard boat race, treasure hunt, sand -castle building and, of course, a fireworks display. Ms. Yager and family members said the Fourth of July holiday brings them together in larger numbers than at Christmas get-togethers.

“It’s a bit of a tradition,” she said of spending the day at the lake, whether it was with relatives who used to own a cabin there, or under a shelter during the Fourth at the Lake. A few years ago, about 100 family members made it to the lake. “We’d come here even if there wasn’t water in the lake.”

St. Joseph and area residents had a variety of choices this Fourth of July to satiate their pyrotechnic desires. The barbecue at the Heritage Park Softball Complex and Missouri Riverfront, in conjunction with Terrible’s Casino, made for a mass of revelers Friday night.

Aaron and Dana Robb snatched a parking spot near the softball complex before sunset Friday. While wiping his children down with insect repellent, Mr. Robb said he’d already been nailed three times by mosquitos “the size of horse flies.”

“Somebody warned us” of the mosquito explosion this summer, said Mr. Robb, who moved his family here less than two years ago from Kentucky.

Mary and John Hilton, who live near Savannah, picked out a comfortable spot in the grass not far from the Robbs. They waited patiently for their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids to join them for the evening’s fireworks display.

“It’s very underated, as far as holidays,” Ms. Hilton said of the Fourth.

“I’m a World War II veteran,” Mr. Hilton said, “so it’s pretty important to me.”

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.