So yesterday, my small family and I went to the big O-town celebration for our nation's Independence Day. It was one of those things where any of the area non-profit organizations capable of having a booth, had one set up for food, beverages or even games (I do wish there were more games!). There were also inflated jumping toys for the kids (I think there were about eight of those), and plenty of walking and sitting around room for the adults. At about 7:30, the Fire Rescue Team of Oneonta, "Fire Safety" taped off an area of the park in anticipation for the fireworks.
We had just set up our viewing area along with Brendan's mother and prepared to wait. It's more than waiting in a crowd like that - I love that kind of thing because it means you can people watch! It's always an opportunity for me to see something new - like an under 10 year old carrying a newborn, which a little shocking until you see the mother snatch the baby away from him and carry the baby WAY less affectionately than the boy had. We also took that opportunity to get ice cream and a second round of food from the vendors. We ate the ice cream first, and it was delicious! I also had Speedie's for the first time thanks to the Rotary "Shelter Box" vendor, also quite delicious! Mira played with a little almost 3 year old boy just slightly taller than her, which was very sweet and entertaining.
I almost forgot to tell you about the biggest attraction there, aside from the fireworks! They had a stage! Well, 2 stages, really. The big stage was all set up for bands, the first of which was really very progressive for Oneonta, we thought. They were a teenage jam band. If you're not familiar with jam bands, it's a band of musicians who know how to play their instruments very well and basically just do that for swaths of time. Some jam band songs can last for a half an hour. I think this first band only actually sang 4 songs in their hour and a half on stage - it was refreshing to hear MUSIC instead of all the familiar songs you can sing to and you know how to dance to. When they were done there was a second, smaller stage where some real live Cloggers from Milford, NY entertained the crowd with their very cute matching dresses with bloomers and tapshoes and even a little doggy trick side show. Then it was back to the main stage for a karaoke style (we think she was an American Idol hopeful or local winner) singer. After that, there was your typical, good, middle-aged all male band presenting the tunes everyone could either sing along with or dance to with some ease and familiarity. Following this act: FIREWORKS!
The fireworks did not start until about 9:30/9:45, a bit later than the advertised time, but hell, we'd been there most of the day, so what's another half an hour? Besides, the prime people watching available was really easy on passing the time. Once they started, though, it was definitely showtime. The fireworks were nice with a really kick ass finale. Nothing much compared to the fireworks show's I grew up going to in Oklahoma, but better than no fireworks at all to be sure. I think they were definitely trying to space it out though, as there were sometimes full minutes spaced between each set off. This silence of "boom"s and "screech"es provided ample opportunity to hear the soundtrack blaring from the stage. There were some of the old standby's like "Proud to be an American" and such. One song stuck out though that I thought was VERY interesting - especially right now when some states are completely rewriting their immigrant laws: "Coming to America". I got a little chuckle out of it and it spawned an interesting conversation in the car ride home between Brendan and I, but I just wondered what made "them" (whoever "they" are) chose THAT as one of the songs. Maybe to spawn interesting conversations on the car ride home? Or to take a stance against these new immigrant laws? Either way, you cannot doubt the controversial nature of the song in our particular time. I was pleasantly surprised about NOT hearing any people spouting off about how much they disliked certain someones' "Coming to America".
Then again; that's a great sign of a truly kick-ass finale.
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