T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY/5K PHOTOS BY ZACH TOMESCH

Marshalltown celebrated America’s 250th birthday in style over the weekend with a wide range of events that began on Friday after the Classic Car Cruise Through scheduled for Thursday night was canceled due to inclement weather. The fun kicked off with a concert at West End Park featuring the Marshalltown Community Band followed by Final Mix on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning, the inaugural 5K and Fun Run began bright and early at 8 a.m. and took runners through a challenging course full of hills mostly through the Iowa Veterans Home campus before finishing at the Echo sculpture on 13th Street. The annual parade drew a large crowd on 13th Street and around IVH at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday with Korean War veterans Bill Berger and Bob Hansel serving as the grand marshals. Afterwards, the festivities moved to the IVH campus for inflatables, food trucks and the softball game at Valor Field with Vietnam veteran Johnny Warner and Korean War veteran spouse Bev Eichorn throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Saturday night’s activities wound down with the fireworks show at the 6th Street fields, and residents of the community kept the party going with fireworks of their own shot off throughout the night.