Independence Day
About the middle of Summer break comes an awesome holiday: Independence Day. For many people it's a day filled with friends and family, games and food. For my family growing up it always meant a trip to my Grandparent's house in Circleville, Utah.
I looked forward to that trip all year. It was a big family reunion for one thing. My mom is one of seven kids, so there were always a ton of people. My grandparents have five spare beds in their house and all of them would be occupied, as well as the two couches and the living room floor and an air mattress or two and the couch in the basement. And we'd still have about four or more tents pitched in the backyard. "Stan's Tent City" the neighbors call it.
Up until a few years ago some of us used to sleep right out under the stars. There are so many stars there! I wouldn't even know where to begin to count them! But we used to count the shooting stars until we fell asleep.
On the morning of the fourth, the whole town is awoken by the sound of dynamite! Two men go around town in a pickup truck and put dynamite in the ditches around 6AM. The town is so small it only takes about twenty minutes.
Sometimes we'd just go back to sleep for an hour or two but most of the time we were up for the day. After a shower Grandma usually had breakfast started. The things I remember her making the most were scrambled eggs and toast or French toast. And there was always dry cereal and milk and Costco muffins.
After breakfast we would all head down to the street by the elementary school to watch the parade. My mom says it used to start at 7, which is why they do the dynamite at 6, but now they don't start it until 10. We usually get there early so we can claim a big enough spot for everyone to sit together.
In the parade they always have fun floats (mostly decorated trucks and trailers) and most people would throw candy for the kids.
They also had the firetruck and the veterans of the town, and horses and bicycles. One year there was a group that shot everyone with water guns, and a couple of times people have thrown popsicles. It was always a good time.
When the parade was over we'd go into the school gym for the program. It consisted mostly of lots of patriotic songs (they moved the organ in, I think from the church) and different talents from around town. A lot of dancing and singing and instruments. After the program they used to serve lunch right there in the gym before starting the games. After a few years, though, we started just doing a potluck at the house. Grandma and Grandpa would set up tables in the garage to put all the food on and we would all sit around the front yard and chat and play for a while.
Well, after we had used up all of our tickets, we would walk back to Grandma's to play until it was time for fireworks. Quite often my dad would take us up to the Otter Creek Resevoir to go fishing for a few hours. I always enjoyed that. I loved hanging out with just Dad and my siblings. We always made sure to be home in time for fireworks, which was plenty of time to fish since it didn't get dark until after 9 PM there.
Behind my grandparents house there is a big open field, and you can see all the way to the highway (which really isn't far away). A ways back and off to the north is the church which is where the fireworks are set off now. But they used to set them off in the middle of the field, so lying in blankets or sitting in chairs in the back yard we were right underneath them and they were huge! Over at the church they are still awesome, but nothing like being right under them. The best part, though, is the way they echo off the mountains. It makes watching fireworks anywhere else sound flat and dull. After the big show, a bunch of us would go out front and light whatever fireworks we had brought from home. And of course we'd all have sparklers. Since the big show doesn't start until almost 10, by the time we finish with the little ones it's bedtime.
I looked forward to that trip all year. It was a big family reunion for one thing. My mom is one of seven kids, so there were always a ton of people. My grandparents have five spare beds in their house and all of them would be occupied, as well as the two couches and the living room floor and an air mattress or two and the couch in the basement. And we'd still have about four or more tents pitched in the backyard. "Stan's Tent City" the neighbors call it.
On the morning of the fourth, the whole town is awoken by the sound of dynamite! Two men go around town in a pickup truck and put dynamite in the ditches around 6AM. The town is so small it only takes about twenty minutes.
Sometimes we'd just go back to sleep for an hour or two but most of the time we were up for the day. After a shower Grandma usually had breakfast started. The things I remember her making the most were scrambled eggs and toast or French toast. And there was always dry cereal and milk and Costco muffins.
After breakfast we would all head down to the street by the elementary school to watch the parade. My mom says it used to start at 7, which is why they do the dynamite at 6, but now they don't start it until 10. We usually get there early so we can claim a big enough spot for everyone to sit together.
In the parade they always have fun floats (mostly decorated trucks and trailers) and most people would throw candy for the kids.
When the parade was over we'd go into the school gym for the program. It consisted mostly of lots of patriotic songs (they moved the organ in, I think from the church) and different talents from around town. A lot of dancing and singing and instruments. After the program they used to serve lunch right there in the gym before starting the games. After a few years, though, we started just doing a potluck at the house. Grandma and Grandpa would set up tables in the garage to put all the food on and we would all sit around the front yard and chat and play for a while.
After lunch came the races. All the races are done by age, starting with the youngest at about 2, and the length of the race increases by age. Everyone who participated got a popsicle, and the winner got a fifty cent piece. After the races were over the games would start. There were all kinds of games set up around the field. We bought tickets in the picnic area where Bingo was set up and then Mom and Dad would turn us loose. There was bobbing for apples, fishing (for the younger kids), and games like collecting washers from a kiddie pool full of soapy water, picking up ducks out of a "pond", finding a jar lid with a mark drawn on it in a pool filled with water and saw dust. And they all had prizes, of course.
The prizes came from Stan's Merc, the only store in town. Until 1992 it was owned by my grandpa, Stan Dalton, and they lived in the house attached to it. The prizes included everything from scented bubbles to jump ropes and cap guns to chalk, and of course, candy. For the really little kids they had a big pile of sawdust with candy, coins and small toys hidden in it. In recent years they've added Cow Pie Bingo to the list of games. That's where they have a big grid in the grass and people can buy a square and if the cow leaves a pie in your square you win.
Well, after we had used up all of our tickets, we would walk back to Grandma's to play until it was time for fireworks. Quite often my dad would take us up to the Otter Creek Resevoir to go fishing for a few hours. I always enjoyed that. I loved hanging out with just Dad and my siblings. We always made sure to be home in time for fireworks, which was plenty of time to fish since it didn't get dark until after 9 PM there.
Behind my grandparents house there is a big open field, and you can see all the way to the highway (which really isn't far away). A ways back and off to the north is the church which is where the fireworks are set off now. But they used to set them off in the middle of the field, so lying in blankets or sitting in chairs in the back yard we were right underneath them and they were huge! Over at the church they are still awesome, but nothing like being right under them. The best part, though, is the way they echo off the mountains. It makes watching fireworks anywhere else sound flat and dull. After the big show, a bunch of us would go out front and light whatever fireworks we had brought from home. And of course we'd all have sparklers. Since the big show doesn't start until almost 10, by the time we finish with the little ones it's bedtime.
These are some of my favorite memories from growing up, and one of my favorite traditions. What are some of your favorite things to do for Independence Day?
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