The story behind Selma's 3rd of July celebration

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- One event exactly 25 years ago forever changed the way one Valley city celebrates Independence Day.

Longtime Selma resident Russ Noble says the city holds "a typical American Fourth of July but it's on the third of July."

For Noble, Selma's third of July isn't your average Independence Day celebration. The longtime resident knows exactly where he was 25 years ago when Fourth of July was forever changed for the raisin capital.

He didn't know it then but a football match would be a game changer -- changing the course of Selma's history. The Fresno Bandits -- a semi-pro football team -- was playing the Moscow Bears. At the time the Russian team members had one simple request. Bob Allen, with the Selma Chamber of Commerce, says "they wanted to see small town USA Fourth of July."

So, Selma offered up Staley Stadium for the game and moved the city's Independence Day celebration to the third of July. It was Russ Noble who sealed the deal. "We overflowed it nearly around 8,000; big crowd for Selma," he said.

It was such a celebration, and Noble says Selma was so proud to show an international team a true American Independence Day that no one thought twice about moving the celebration back to its traditional day.

Twenty-five years later it still holds true. City residents joke that other Valley cities then followed suit. Noble says, "We've had other cities try to lay claim to having theirs on the third; I laugh at them." He still has the tickets from that day. It was $8 to get in to what was a simple scrimmage that became quite a historic gridiron match.