How Our Little Town Celebrates The Fourth Of July In Grand Country Style
And how I reclaimed my own sense of wonder by seeing it through my children’s eyes
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What Independence Day Means To Me: Reflections on The Fourth of July
THE FOURTH OF JULY IS A BIG DEAL IN OUR LITTLE TOWN CELEBRATED IN GRAND STYLE
In the little rural town where we live, the Fourth of July is a very big deal celebrated over two weeks in grand style…just as it has been since the pioneering days of the 1850’s.
It is called “Frontier Days”, and folks spend a full year getting ready for it, with days of special events, concerts, great food, a carnival…and California’s longest running Rodeo all going on before the climax of July 4th. And this is all produced and run every year for over 70 years in our little town of about 6,000 folks.
Photo Credit: Frontier Days
MAIN STREET IS CLOSED OFF FOR A SPECTACULAR PARADE
On that day, Main Street is closed off for many blocks for The Parade, which is spectacular if you love country life.
It is all home grown, home made, country creative, and a sincere heartfelt expression from all the folks marching, riding or making music. It may not be slick or fancy, but it is a reflection of the country lifestyle we all love and cherish.
There is a half mile of floats and contraptions on wheels of all kinds, classic cars in all their glory, dancers dancing to loud music from boomboxes, motorcycle clubs with dozens of gleaming deep throated motorcycles, marching bands with dancing cheerleaders, and of course, groups of cowboys and cowgirls decked out in their finest Stetson hats and rhinestone studded clothes sedately riding their horses, easy and confident in their saddles.
Photo Credits: Frontier Days
Every inch of the sidewalk on both sides of the parade route is taken up by folks who have come in early in the day to stake out their families spot to view the hour and half long stream of passing spectacles and performances.
People cheer loudly to express their excitement and joy…to the tunes of the continuous rolling music…and the bright colors as everyone’s face is lit up with a smile.
The Fourth here in our little neck of the woods is a heartfelt expression of our love for our country, the good ole USA…and our appreciation of this magical place where we live and of our friends and neighbors and welcoming sweetness that runs strong in our community.
Photo Credit: Frontier Days
THE SPECIAL COMMUNITY MEAL SERVED AFTER THE PARADE
After the Parade, folks have spent weeks preparing to cook and serve a traditional lunch to everyone…BBQ ribs, beef, chicken and of course, hot dogs.
There is a special and uplifting sense of community clearly evident as folks come together to celebrate and share a meal.
The grass of the park and the pavilions with long rows of picnic tables are all filled with happy people, and many of them are there with their families.
You see handshakes and hearty welcomes and hugs being exchanged everywhere in the park.
You go to get your food and after waiting for a while in a long line of excited people, when its your turn, the county Sheriff serving everyone as a volunteer greets you by name and asks you how you are doing?
Photo Credit: Frontier Days
Behind him are teams of local folks working together to keep the food coming from the BBQ pits and hot wood grills, while others fill plates as fast as they can as the orders are called out.
Other volunteers take the heaping plates of food and hand them to smiling customers.
Everyone is buzzing with a sweet loving energy that is raising everyone’s happiness level.
You can smell the food being cooked from anywhere in the big city park, which may make your stomach growl, but makes you appreciate it all the more once you find a place to sit down and savor it as you eat.
Photo Credit: Frontier Days
SEEING THE BEAUTY AND MAGIC THROUGH MY CHILDREN’S EYES
When my children were young, my daughters and later my son, loved everything about “the Fourth”.
One of the things I most treasure from my time of being a Dad of young children is that through being with them, I saw a much more amazing, beautiful and loving world because I was seeing through their eyes.
Everyday had its magical experiences shared with them, and the Fourth was always one of our most loved and appreciated experiences.
OUR FOURTH OF JULY ADVENTURES
We did it all..from staking out our spot on Main Street early…to watching every inch of the parade until the last float had passed…then scurrying to making sure we got to the park right after so we could get into the line for lunch before it became a mile long.
My children’s excitement, anticipation and pleasure was contagious…I know that I missed these kinds of experiences when I was a young child because my Dad’s work demanded his every day attention.
But by sharing it with my children, it was as if I was a child enjoying it with them.
As very parent knows, seeing the pure innocent joy and delight on your child’s face from a shared experience is priceless.
After throughly enjoying our lunch, we would take our time to visit the museum across the street, especially the real old steam engines that were on display… and finally walk over to the carnival.
The carnivals we had in those days were of a magical quality that seems to be lost since we have all gotten cell phones.
But in those days, we savored every ride…all of them…even the scariest ones by riding them one after another…and then going back again and again to ride our favorites.
By the time we were dazed and done with the carnival, the sun had set and suddenly it was time for the grand finale of the day…amazing fireworks which my children oooed and ahhed over in amazement.
The rockets whistling as they climbed towards the stars to suddenly explode into brilliantly colored lights and shapes of sheer delight seemed to go on forever.
As my own Dad would sagely say, “Well…All good things must come to an end! It’s time to go home!”
You know you have had a perfect day when you wake up the next morning and the children are still excitedly talking about what they saw and experienced…and I couldn’t help chiming in by talking about my favorites.
One of the most beautiful things from being a loving parent is that shared experiences such as our Fourth Of July celebrations were sweet when we lived them, but like everything else good in our lives, has only gotten sweeter in memory.
Photo Credit: Frontier Days
Calligraphy by Chinmayan
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Thx for sharing your wonderful experiences and memories 🇺🇸
That’s so much fun Chinmayan. Happy 4th!