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For most kids, Christmas is their favorite holiday, followed by Halloween. My birthday has always been my fave, followed up by the 4th of July. I loved that it was the country’s birthday and everybody celebrated it. I guess I have a thing for birthday parties!
Growing up in Perry, Ohio, the epitome of small town America, we would start our 4th early in the morning by attending or participating in some sort of parade. There would be marching bands, baseball teams, girl scout troops, veterans of foreign wars and, of course, baton twirlers. I was a baton twirler for many years and marched in tons of parades! Some were better than others but it was definitely a good way to get you in that patriotic mood.
After the parade we would head home to have a fun day in the backyard, playing badminton and volleyball and then twirling our batons like nobody’s business. Just because the parade was over didn’t mean the show had to end! Dad would barbeque and there would be unlimited soda in styrofoam coolers – this only happened on holidays – as well as potato salad for miles. Mom would also cook up all kinds of red, white and blue food for us to eat. Sometimes we would even have a cake with candles to celebrate our country’s bday.
When all the festivities were over, the best was yet to come: the fireworks! When I was young, fireworks were not as common as they are now. They only happened a few times a year and I never missed them. I still enjoy fireworks today because they remind me of my second favorite holiday and of summertime! Since in many ways it feels like summer here has only just begun, I thought I’d share with you a little bit about how I spent my most recent 4th.
This year, my friend Christine asked if I would join her at the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. She had an extra ticket with VIP seating. (Just for the record, VIP anything works for me. If you throw in some fireworks, all the better.) We started our day in Battery Park with a free concert featuring Ryan Adams, who has been a Christine crush for some time now. He sang that "New York New York" song that I love so much.
We had a picnic lunch and then headed off for the grand finale. We had to be there at 8 o’clock, which kinda threw me off because that seemed way too early to go see fireworks. It wasn’t even dark yet. Little did I know that we were to take part in the national telecast hosted by Carson Daley and Molly Sims. There was even going to be a live performance from Kelly Clarkson, plus additional taped appearances from the President, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker. Beyoncé also performed in Washington DC at Grant’s Tomb, Sheryl Crow did her thing at the Library at Bryant Park and John Mellencamp sang from the Brooklyn Bridge. We watched all of this from our video monitors.
Upon arrival we were immediately given gift bags and escorted to the grandstand. (For the record, the only thing better than VIP is a gift bag,) We were then instructed on what we had to do. We were told we would be playing a very important role in the telecast. We would have our own stage leader but would be prompted by everyone on the staging team. You see, the TV cameras could be filming the grandstand at any time, so we always needed to be camera-ready. We were cued on when to cheer, applaud, wave flags and flick confetti. Christine and I were so ready for our close-up!
Soon Carson introduced Kelly Clarkson. She sang "America the Beautiful" with a full choir. The fireworks started shortly after her performance and, during that time, we were free to just watch them and have a good time as there was no filming of the grandstand during that segment. It was amazing to be that close!
The fireworks looked like they were falling right upon us and it was so loud you could feel the sound bouncing through you. I felt like I was wearing 3-D glasses throughout the entire spectacle. It really was an amazing show! Kelly followed the fireworks with her hit single "Miss Independent," so appropriate to have an American idol sing a song about independence on the 4th of July. She was great!
As this year’s fireworks drew to a close and Kelly flashed her last big smile on stage, it was official, my second summer in NYC had begun. Please write me at lulu@fredflare.com and tell me how your summer is going! Be sure and send me your address because I have a special prize for the first five responses. Have a great summer everybody!
07/16/03 |
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