FERRIDAY — While boating safety is always important, once a year the boaters on Lake St. John line up to receive divine protection.

The annual blessing of the fleet will be during the Fourth of July flotilla. Boats will leave Tom Bell’s Grocery at 4 p.m. Saturday, and St. Patrick Catholic Church pastor the Rev. Louis Sklar will be at the Steckler house on the lake to bless the boats.

“At 4 p.m. I will say a general blessing for the summer and for the boats’ safety,” Sklar said.

“Many of the people who are on the lake not as part of the flotilla, just recreationally boating, will also come up and have their boats blessed.”

After praying the general blessing, Sklar will sprinkle the boats with holy water as they pass the Steckler dock, he said.

But the blessing of the fleet is not the only event happening on the lake this weekend.

Following the blessing, the flotilla will continue around the lake in the lake community’s traditional floating parade.

The theme for this year’s flotilla is, “Cruzin’ with Lady Liberty.”

One change from past practice is that, rather than having a flotilla king and queen, the flotilla will only have a grand marshal, flotilla contact Ryan Paul said.

“In the past, there has been a lot of drama built up around the king and queen, and who gets nominated and how you choose from the nominees,” Paul said. “We just did this to sort of simplify things.”

This year’s grand marshal will be Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland.

The grand marshal is normally a political figure, and there was a standing nomination for Copeland from last year, Paul said.

“We basically honored the nomination,” Paul said. “The choice is always someone who is very involved and does a good job moving the community forward.”

The grand marshal’s celebration — taking the place of the king and queen’s ball — will be 8 p.m. Friday at The Dock.

Registration for the flotilla costs $12, and can be done Friday night at the grand marshal’s party or from 10 to noon Saturday at Spokane Marina.

A decorated pier contest will be at noon Saturday, and the entrance fee for the contest is $12.

Saturday will end with a fireworks show, starting at 9 p.m.

“It’s going to be a pretty significant event,” Paul said. “It will be the only (fireworks show) actually on July 4 this year.”

The public will be able to view the fireworks from Spokane marina, The Dock, Tom Bell’s Grocery or from their boat in the lake.

“I think a lot of people think it is just for the people who live out on Lake St. John, but the public is more than welcome to come out,” said Mike Smith, whose business Big River Broadcasting is one of the sponsors.

The aim of the flotilla is to continually improve, Paul said.

“We are hoping this year we will be bigger and better than we have been in the past, and we are hoping to grow every year,” he said.