Fourth of July – Independence Day

Lucky are we – in so many ways – to be able to celebrate our Independence Day.

I remember one particular Fourth in my childhood. I’m not sure of my exact age, but I’m guessing I was five or six, because we moved away from that town when I was seven. The others are a blank, but probably similar; however this is the one Fourth that sticks in my memory.

Dad was big on celebrating the Fourth and apparently liked having a lot of people around. We always had plenty of ‘company’ and the yard was full of people [neighbors and family]. A ‘really big’ lard can of booyah was cooking outside. I don’t know what else we had to eat, but there were likely other foods in the kitchen. Though the booyah was by far the main item.

Dad filled a big wash tub with ice and Nehi soda. They bought ice cream in 5 gallon dry-ice containers. All in all, it was a kid’s delight, in those days. I’m sure we ran around playing, running and yelling as kids will do. We probably asked for ice cream and soda and found it hard to wait until after we ate. The adults visited while waiting for the booyah to be ready.

After we finished eating, we probably walked over to the town park for a baseball game if there was one. I remember doing that, but I can’t say for certain we did on that day. If a game was being played, I’m sure we attended because Dad really liked baseball. For a time, he was manager of the local baseball team. Several of his grown nephews were members of the team. I think they were called “The Leadbelt Cubs.” We have a picture of the team, which maybe I’ll post here later.

They usually had a carnival in the park on the Fourth too, though I’m not sure when they began doing that; or if there was one that particular year. When they had both, we alternated between watching the game and begging Dad for nickels so we could go on the rides [Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round] and maybe buy pop corn or cotton candy.

Yes, there were fireworks for after dark, mostly sparklers and fire crackers. I never liked the noise the fire crackers made, which did not change when I became an adult. The noise made me jump and unexpected noises still do. Just ask the “balloon lady.” Some of the boys would toss them near your feet. Not smart – and I’m sure they were reprimanded if they were seen doing so.

In some stories I’ve read [set in days many years back in the ‘old’ country] fireworks were set off on other holidays, such as Christmas and New Year. That was apparently passed down in Dad’s family. His cousins I met told me that they remembered one Christmas Dad’s family spent with them and the boys brought along fireworks to set off. She seemed to like them about as well as I did. I enjoy the beautiful fireworks visual displays, but I’ve never been able to figure out why making of lot of loud noise is supposed to be fun.

Happy Fourth!