Weather almost canceled one Essex County town's Independence Day celebration, but the event still went on as planned.

The community of Cedar Grove came together in Panther Park before the rain and thunder drew them back. Luckily, the wet weather finally let up and the fireworks were able to take off.

Town officials say the event helped the community in a positive way.

Cedar Grove Mayor Kerry Peterson says, "It is a sense of normalcy that we all our craving so much."

Councilman Joseph Cicala says, "We're lacking a little bit of community these days because of COVID 19…this is something that we hope brings a little of that back."

The event was scaled down from years past. Cedar Grove officials were allowed a maximum capacity of 500 people on the field and the surrounding grass area, which comes a day after Gov. Phil Murphy raised the limit of outdoor crowd sizes to 500.

Officials also strongly encouraged residents to wear masks.

The town did have a rain date of July 10 if the weather got too severe.