As I write this it is July 4th. July 4th is a day that celebrates the greatest country that has ever existed – despite what some people may think or claim! Now this is not a political column, so let us look at one way that the holiday is celebrated! In this case, I am referring the booming of fireworks. Fireworks are colorful and give employment to many so they are good things in themselves.
True, the Chinese claim the honor of inventing them as they did gunpowder. Not too unusual today as they seem to make everything. Sometimes, I wonder that when the Chinese go to the store and buy something, if they then look at the bottom to see where it is made. I bet they find something besides “Made in China.” Probably came from a country with cheaper labor!
To return to our 4th and fireworks, I am not that impressed. Today, when you go, you sit and then look up in the sky as rockets shoot up and colorful blasts appear in the night sky. Very impressive, but frankly it gets a little boring after seeing the same thing numerous times. Now when I was a kid!
I still recall when I was about 13 hitchhiking to Grove City, Pa from Harrisville which was about 8 miles away. Harrisville had about 600 people while Grove City was a metropolis of around 8,000. We hitchhiked to Grove City quite a bit as that is where they had movie theaters and a swimming pool. No one thought much about kids hitchhiking in those days. Many an afternoon was spent at the Guthrie Theater viewing a good Western.
My most lasting memory was a 4th of July diaplay at the football field at Grove City College. In those days, you did not just look up. You also looked down on the field at the fireworks displays there. You had many displays that burst into American Flags. You had tanks firing at each other! There were all sorts of displays that I cannot even recall anymore.
The Blonde in the house who lived in Pittsburgh – which was even bigger than Grove City, also recalls such displays. She attended some celebrations at Forbes Field (former home of my Pirates) where there were probably even better ground-based fireworks. I guess you could say these activities were part of the greatest generation, and kids like the Blonde and I recall them no matter how much we age – not that she has aged that much!
The world changes, stuff like fireworks become more expensive, and the festivities around a day like the 4th change over time so that few remember what used to be. That is not all bad, as long as we continue to realize that we have a great country that needs to be applauded for its values.
Still, I wish I could go back to that summer evening in Grove City, Pa. Be great to see all the fireworks, particularly the tanks firing at each other. That was breathtaking!
Barry Evans is a Villager