The show will go on for the city of Springfield.

Springfield was notified Thursday morning it was awarded one of the 10 $10,000 grants from Liberty Mutual for Independence Day celebrations across the nation.

“It is definitely good, good news,” City Manager Brett Bennett said.

More than 3,000 cities and towns across the country competed for the grants, with four going to small cities, three to medium-sized cities and three to large cities. Liberty Mutual received more than 48,000 entries in its Bring Back the 4th contest, an online survey testing knowledge of American history.

Residents across Effingham were urged to take part and put Springfield as their hometown and 31329 as their zip code.

“I am very excited,” said Brooke Burns of Burns Insurance Associates, who carries Liberty Mutual among her lines and helped spark the drive. “It says a lot about us.”

Bennett said he had people stop him on the street and tell him they’d taken the online survey to help Springfield’s cause.

“I was pleased with the response,” he said. “I sent it to everybody in my e-mail contacts and the tumble effect started. I was pleased with the community support.”

The cost of the fireworks is about $15,000 and the total cost of the event is about $17,000, according to Bennett. The city also embarked on a donations drive and raised approximately $7,000 in donations from individuals, groups and businesses.

“This will take care of the financial needs we had for the celebration,” Bennett said of the grant. “It almost hit on the head.”

Effingham County commissioners did not approve a $4,000 donation to the fireworks show this year. They had a request to do so, but a vote to approve the donation was deadlocked at 3-3. Another vote to deny the donation also ended a 3-3 tie, and the measure failed.

Though the donation would have been greatly appreciated, Bennett also said he acknowledged the county is trying to cut expenses.

“I don’t have any hard feelings toward the commissioners,” he said. “I can’t blame them for not funding it.”

Commissioners had approved a $5,000 donation last year but also said their plan was to end their financial support of the event.

“They have worked very hard to get additional donations,” County Administrator David Crawley said of Springfield’s efforts. “They’ve done a very good job to reduce the amount contributed by government.”

The fireworks show, staged by an Effingham County resident, also draws one of the largest crowds for any public non-sporting event in the county. Bennett said they’ve estimated the crowds to be from 3,000 to 4,000.

The annual fireworks show will be held July 3 at Effingham County High School. Gates will open at 6 p.m. and the fireworks display will commence as soon as it’s dark enough.