Recreations, period activities part of July 4th celebrations By <A HREF="mailto:jminton@theadvocate.com">Baker-Zachary bureau</A> The Office of State Parks will feature Fourth of July programs at its two historic sites in East Feliciana Parish. Port Hudson State Historic Site will host a special "Port Hudson Surrender" ceremony Wednesday, July 4, beginning at 10 a.m. The ceremony gets under way at the site museum where park staff and volunteers dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms will lower the Confederate flag and raise the Union flag, recreating the surrender of the Port Hudson garrison on July 9, 1863. The park’s 42-pound cannon will fire as a salute to the Union, and park staff will lead a guided tour to Old Port Hudson, the actual surrender site, for presentation of the historic details on the concession. "A program such as this one, based on historical research, is a great way for the visitor to learn a bit of history in a unique way," said Michael Fraering, site curator. The site is on U.S. 61, north of the East Baton Rouge-East Feliciana Parish line. Visitors are encouraged to also visit Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson after the Port Hudson surrender ceremony for an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration. Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Centenary visitors will meet park staff and volunteer interpreters dressed in period costume as they stage activities typical of an old-fashioned, family Fourth of July celebration. Balloon rides, face painting, syrup-making demonstrations, period games conducted by the Feliciana Belles, sack races, a pie-eating contest and a watermelon seed-spitting contest will be held. Smithfield Fair will provide musical entertainment throughout the day, and guided tours of Centenary’s late Victorian period Professor’s House will be conducted every hour. "We want to educate our visitors about the traditions that accompanied July 4th celebrations of the past," said Cody Westmoreland, site curator. Centenary originally opened as the College of Louisiana in 1826 and became Centenary College of Louisiana in 1844. The site commemorates the history of education and student life in Louisiana. Centenary is at East College and Pine Streets in Jackson, four blocks north of La. 10. Admission at each site is $2 per person, but visitors 12 and younger and 62 and older are admitted without charge. Picnic areas are available at both sites.