Happy Birthday America!
I was thinking about how I celebrated Independence Day through the decades. I remember the celebration being the kickoff to summer vacations — sneaking an extra day. Parades were always part of the day. Barbecues immediately come to mind. And, of course, the fireworks stand out.
Until lately, barbecues were always a staple for the July 4 celebration. Growing up, the folks would fight with the charcoal for what was sometimes the only cookout of the year. After Karen and I got married, we mixed hosting barbecues with visiting at friends’ barbecues. I remember kids running around with sparklers until dusk closed in and we headed for various firework displays.
My first recollection of July 4 fireworks were as a tyke in Paterson NJ. My cousins and I — along with their families — walked to three or four blocks up the Madison Avenue overpass to watch the pyrotechnics light up the sky. When we moved to Totowa, NJ, the day started with the parade, which was staged a few blocks away. And we could sit in the back yard and still get a sky view of the fireworks.
The traditions waned after I entered the workforce, got married and started a family. Early in my career, I was usually inside the office instead of witnessing the bursts above. In Ogdensburg, NJ, we watched the parade from our back yard, and would travel to neighboring Sparta, NJ, for fireworks.
In Belvidere, IL, the tradition was revived with a morning at the downtown parade, good eats during the day and heading to neighboring Cherry Valley, IL, to stake out our spot, usually with neighbors, friends and soon-to-be-friends, as we watched the kids run around with reckless abandon until the first crack and flash in the sky. I do remember one year it was hot, humid and overcast, but the crowds gathered in and around Cherry Valley, only to be prematurely displaced by the howl of the tornado sirens. Nature put on quite a display that July 4 night!
In Ohio, we often ventured over toward Maumee Bay to watch the fireworks. Karen and I aren’t particularly fond of crowds so we often found a place somewhere along the river bank to watch the display.
We always intended to go the The Mall in Washington, DC, but we always came up with an excuse and generally watched the fun on television … comfy in our pjs and the ac.
By the time we reached upstate New York, the allure of July 4 fireworks dulled. Barbecues were a must and occasionally we would take in a parade. There were not a lot of firework options — they were reserved for other events in most towns — but one summer July evening we drove to the Seneca Lake shoreline in Lodi to watch a parade of boats and probably not-so-legal pyrotechnic show.
I happened to be in Dexter, ME, one July 4 weekend and got my holiday firework fix there overlooking Lake Wassookeag. I’ve returned a couple of times, usually capping off the night with a frosty ice cream cone. The fireworks were last night, so I missed this year, and I doubt I’ll trek to Bangor or Greenville.
It’s not a big deal for me. After all these years, the pop, flashes and displays tend to be routine. Seen one. Seen them all. The excitement has aged as I have.
However, with that being said, there are two places that really captured my attention. I was at a music/food festival in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, area. I was there more for the food, but stayed late enough to watch the fireworks, which was the first time I witnessed synchronized pyrotechnics with Dan Fogelberg on stage.
The second firework display that garners excitement for me is in Seaside Heights, NJ. It’s called First Night Ocean County and it takes place around 5 p.m. Dec. 31. The hook is the explosives are lit on the beach and explode over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an entirely different experience. I’ve been to three in the last five years — well, actually two. Two years ago it was bitterly cold and the event was postponed and my plans couldn’t be extended.
I hope you all have a safe July 4th, celebrating our heritage as a nation. Enjoy your parades, your barbecues and your fireworks.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: The greatest impact of your life comes at the time of your greatest pain.
Summertime Clearance Sale
Starts
The Light 
Enjoy the summer evening feast,
behold the fireworks in the sky,
and as you do, please give the least
thought for those who went to die.
Antietam was hell on earth,
and Belleau Wood an agony.
The Canal was the final berth
for many gyrenes’ wistful glory.
When you hear the sky-borne boom,
listen to the whispers of the lost,
for in our yards and dining room
we savour that which had a cost.
And remember, the flag’s stripes so red
are memoriam for the blood that’s shed.
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Independence came and continues at a cost. I celebrate Dependence Day every day … dependence on the One who holds me in His hands.
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Well-said!
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Being a Vietnam Veteran, I understand the cost of freedom. Many of our military personnel paid the ultimate price. They paid the price with their lives. Freedom isn’t free. There is a cost involved. When you think about your freedoms and individual rights, don’t thank a politician, thank a veteran, Because the veterans risked their lives for your freedoms.
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Of course!
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For me, the 4th of July was first and foremost, my Daddy’s birthday 🙂 For the first several years of my life, he had us kids under the impression that all the celebration, the food, the fireworks… were all for him! Even now, all these many years later, and having just celebrated his 84th birthday (he doesn’t know it though, because he has Alzheimer’s), I am still taken back. It’s almost as if I’m on the banks of that lake in Central Kentucky, the breeze and humidity washing over me as I hold a root beer float in one hand, hot dog in the other, and wait, in gleeful anticipation, for the fireworks, er, um, Daddy’s Birthday celebration, to begin.
Memories are amazing things, bringing back sensations and tastes, and even a tear or two. Thank you for helping mine surface one more time because, like you, and with now-grown children, there’s not much “ado” for this holiday. Bless you!
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Things and people come and go, but our memories are there forever. Glad you were able to did back. Happy Birthdday Daddy. Blessings to you as well.
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I’m just happy that finally, FINALLY! We have come far enough out of the long, long drought period that allowed a ‘safe’ celebration of the 4th to include not only Fire Dept sponsored light shows, but the possibility of ordinary dads & moms getting sparklers and “stand back kids, Dad will light it’ back yard ones – – WITHOUT risking wild fire, prairie fire OR huge fine for violating the Fire Ban – :). This year, I gave thanks not only for those who fought/died for our Independence day, but also for the rain, blizzards, late snow storms and (ahem!) the hails storms, that has so blessed our area with moisture after a real hard year the year prior – – even though most in my circle wonder how many ‘summer veggie garden’ plantings will have to be made this year of moisture blessings! 🙂
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The cycles of life. Hope you’re doing well.
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