It is hard to believe, but this Saturday will be July 4. As I was driving around the other day with my wife, Tina, we spotted numerous firework tents and are planning on stopping to purchase some of the neat fireworks to shoot off this weekend.
Even though fireworks are neat to look at, the Fourth of July is also a time for families to get together, have reunions and even have some homemade ice cream.
Even though Neosho had their fireworks display last weekend, there are other towns that will be putting on fireworks displays this weekend. Two such towns that I know of are Granby and Seneca.
When I was growing up, I traveled to Granby – since it was close to Newtonia – to watch the fireworks display. Sitting beneath the stars, you could hear a pin drop as the crowd waited for the first firework to go off. Then, BOOM!, excitement took over the crowd, with their hands clapping for the amazing fireworks that lit up the sky.
My favorite firecracker I dubbed as the “sonic boomer.” This small, but powerful, sucker would launch from the hillside and have a very faint vapor in the sky. Then when it looked like it was not going to go off, the “BOOM” would let off and a gigantic light would illuminate the sky. It was amazing and I loved to see it every time.
Another favorite July 4th was watching Seneca put on its fireworks show set to music. This was a couple of years ago, and when the music played, the fireworks went off. Truly, Seneca found a niche like no other.
Other times when I was growing up, Mom and Dad took Greg and I to the local fireworks tent and we would get to pick out a few fireworks for our own personal display. Shortly after it got dark, my parents, and grandparents, Nanny and Pop, would come to the house and sit in the lawn chairs, as one by one, the fireworks would be shot off. The Newtonia sky would light up with red, blue, green, white, yellow and other colors.
After the show was complete and the smell of the fireworks faded away, the next day we picked up all of the used fireworks to properly dispose of them.
So as you purchase fireworks, make sure that you have a chance to also visit these towns and other towns that are putting on fireworks displays. They truly put their heart and souls into making our Independence Day a remembrance of our freedoms.
