PORT ALLEN - For more than 50 years, the Manship family has put on WBRZ's Fireworks on the Mississippi. One Port Allen business said the firework show is part of its family tradition.

For 101 years, Jack's Place has stood in Port Allen.

Retired schoolteacher Jill Saia runs the bar with her husband Jerry. They are third-generation owners. With family immigrating to Louisiana from Sicily, first-generation American Jack Saia established Jack's Place in 1924.

"They just took a chance and turned it into this, and we're still going today. I'm thankful for him," Jill Saia said.

Jill Saia hopes her two sons will take over the bar one day, becoming the fourth generation of Saias to serve Port Allen.

"This is a home for a lot of people, you're carrying on a legacy that Jack Saia started," she said.

Each Fourth of July, people over 21 pile into the bar.

"You get to see people you haven't seen all year. You see them once a year on the Fourth of July, it's just a great small town atmosphere," Jill Saia said.

Jill Saia herself passed out popsicles to those under 21.

She said it was a snapshot of an American dream over 100 years in the making.

"My background as a public school teacher, I'm a firm believer in the great American melting pot. That's what this place is for sure. And that's what the town of Port Allen is really."