By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—Join Pelham in celebrating the city’s 50th birthday with the Golden Jubilee at the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena and Oak Mountain Amphitheater on July 11 and 12.

“The whole thing is almost off the charts, there’s so much to do,” Pelham Mayor Gary Waters said.

Modeled after last year’s Pelhambration, the Golden Jubilee is a large-scale community celebration with food, music, shopping and family fun.

Take 7 Band, EveryDay but Friday, Vintage Gray, M-80s and Deputy 5 will provide musical entertainment throughout the celebration at the Civic Complex and at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater, and more than 100 food, information and retail vendors will be on hand for attendants to browse and shop.

“Pelhambration was a huge success last year, the only complaint was that it didn’t start soon enough and didn’t end late enough,” Waters said, noting this year’s celebration kicks off at 5 p.m. at the Civic Complex and continues through Saturday at 5 p.m., closing with a free concert from Deputy 5 at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater.

And of course, no birthday party would be complete without cake. The city will cut its birthday cake on July 12 at 11 a.m., and Waters said a special surprise guest would do the honors, hinting he has invited someone who remembers Pelham’s incorporation on July 10, 1964.

Pelham has certainly come a long way from the town of 640 in 1964. The city now boasts a growing population of more than 22,000 and a new city school system.

Waters hopes to continue and grow Pelham’s tradition of civic celebrations like Pelhambration and the Golden Jubilee.

“We want to make it bigger and bigger and bigger,” Waters said, adding he would like to see it evolve into an event similar to Alabaster’s CityFest.

“I’m excited,” Waters said. “The best thing about this year is I don’t have to be in a dunking booth.”