Hundreds of people at the Fred G. Bond Metro Park in Cary celebrated July 4th the old fashioned way, including watermelon eating contests, egg and spoon races, and water balloon tosses.

"It's really family-oriented and it gets back to all the old-fashioned stuff that they used to do with the simple games," said participant Serena Johns.

The games, including a watermelon seed spitting contest, are a tradition for some families. Others, like the Sachs family, got a taste of them for the first time.

"Since I'd never done it before, it's my first time... it's awesome," said nine-year-old Samantha Sachs.

Her father, Tom Sachs, added, "it's gonna be a tradition that we hopefully carry on every year."

The town expected more than a thousand people to join in the free July 4th celebrations, which also included a fishing tournament, a parade, and fireworks.

"A lot of people are staying home, having more fun in their back year, so to speak," said Bond Park Supervisor Bill Eucker.