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America’s birthday is coming up and residents of Marco Island are looking for ways to celebrate. Of course, everyone is looking forward to the electrifying fireworks that are shot off from the beach on July 4. This year, United Church of Marco offers a fun way to celebrate the occasion along with the fireworks. The church’s music director, Dr. Betty Pursley will be hosting a Star Spangled Sing Along at 7:30 p.m., July 2 in Desseler Hall at the United Church of Marco.

Dr. Pursley has been a member of UCMI for 14 years as its minister of music. Pursley says she came up with the idea for the sing along nine years ago and has continued to do it on and off since then. The church has been known to occasionally team up with other local area churches for the event depending on who was available during the summer.

When asked what this holiday means to her personally, Pursley responded, “To me, it means reflecting on the beginnings of the Declaration of Independence, ice cream, picnics, fireworks, family celebrations, hot dogs, baseball, just all of the American traditions.”

What prompted her to create this event? She says there’s not much happening on Marco Island during the summer so she believes this is a good way to bring the community together to sing songs, have ice cream, and most importantly, to have fun.

The event is open to all members of the community and features well-known American folk songs as well as some Broadway and tunes and music from the ’60s. Some of the featured titles include “Billy Boy,” “Sidewalks of New York,” “Yankee Doodle,” and “My Country Tis of Thee.”

Pursley expects the event to run for about an hour with an ice cream social to follow afterwards. There is no charge for admission but the church will accept any donations during the event. Pursley also promises to allow time for requests from the audience. Members will be given the chance to request any of their favorite songs to be played, and as Pursley put it, “If you can hum a few bars of it, I will play it.” Dr. Pursley believes that it will be a popular event for the community.

“We’ve had great success in the past and we would love to have anyone from the community join us. Children are especially welcome.”