Re: OT-What July Fourth Means to Me- Long!

I need to live in a town like that!  I miss ol' Norman Rockwell.  I'm not
being sarcastic I really mean it.  Course, I'd probably open my mouth and be
run out on a rail but hey the first 45 minutes would be great.

David Franzman
A Touch of the Tropics
www.atouchofthetropics.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melody" <mhobertm@excite.com>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 2:23 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] OT-What July Fourth Means to Me- Long!


> Oh, I think depending on where you live, Jim, it is very close to the
> real thing. In our little town, 4th of July is a big, big deal. Things
> start happening the day before with an all day softball tournament that
> the entire town turns up at sooner or later. The local bar hosts a
> street dance with live bands that goes on all afternoon and half the
> night. Families hang out at the park all that day and the next,
> picnicking and playing. Relatives come to visit from out of town. Family
> parties happening all over the place. Loved ones home from the military
> are treated like royalty all over town. On the day of the fourth, people
> pick out their parking spots at the park early. The volunteer fire
> department starts early in the morning putting together the show for
> that night. For a town of less than 700 people, we spend an average of
> $12-15,000 dollars on fireworks, all paid for by volunteer donations.
> Half our volunteer fire department pay out of their own pockets to get
> licensed as pyrotechnicians. We have a parade that the entire town
> participates in, one way or another. Lots of floats, horses,
> politicians, candy, and best of all, fire trucks from as many
> communities around as can come (this year it was 8!) Then by 7 in the
> evening, there is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of
> thousand people milling around in town as people come from all over to
> see our fireworks. It literally stops the traffic all up and down the
> highway. And it is always, always preceded by the singing of the
> National Anthem and the salute to the flag. It is a very patriotic deal
> here where many, many of our young folks are serving in the military and
> many of our older folks are veterans. This is not necessarily a time to
> reflect on all that is wrong with our country, but rather to remember
> that once upon a time, a few men changed the way they wanted to live and
> in so doing, founded a great nation of people who value independence and
> self-determination. I know of few people who would argue that in the
> USA, for th
>
> ose who are willing to work at it, almost nothing is unattainable. The
> legend that Mr. Reagan chose to wrap those thoughts up in may not be any
> where close to the truth (what legends really are), but I can live with
> the sentiment underlying the words.
>
>
>
> Melody, IA (Z 5/4)
>
> "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."
> --Albert Einstein
>
>  --- On Sat 07/03, james singer < jsinger@igc.org > wrote:
> From: james singer [mailto: jsinger@igc.org]
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 17:38:54 -0400
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] OT-What July Fourth Means to Me- Long!
>
> Interesting, but hardly the real thing.<br><br>On Saturday, July 3,
> 2004, at 10:41 AM, Donna wrote:<br><br>> This was posted on another
> list... Thought some might want to read<br>> it....<br>>
> --------------------<br>><br>> What July Fourth Means to Me<br>> By
> Ronald Reagan<br>><br>> For one who was born and grew up in the small
> towns of the Midwest,<br>> there is a special kind of nostalgia about
> the Fourth of July.<br>><br>> I remember it as a day almost as
> long-anticipated as Christmas. This <br>> was<br>> helped along by the
> appearance in store windows of all kinds of<br>> fireworks and colorful
> posters advertising them with vivid pictures.<br>><br>> No later than
> the third of July -- sometimes earlier -- Dad would bring<br>> home what
> he felt he could afford to see go up in smoke and flame. We'd<br>> count
> and recount the number of firecrackers, display pieces and other<br>>
> things and go to bed determined to be up with the sun so as to offer
> <br>> the<br>> first, thunderous notice of the Fourth of July.<br>><br>>
> I'm afraid we didn't give too much thought to the meaning of the
> day.<br>> And, yes, there were tragic accidents to mar it, resulting
> from <br>> careless<br>> handling of the fireworks. I'm sure we're
> better off today with<br>> fireworks largely handled by
> professionals.<br>><br>> Yet there was a thrill never to be forgotten in
> seeing a tin can blown<br>> 30 feet in the air by a giant "cracker" --
> giant meaning it was about 4<br>> inches long. But enough of
> nostalgia.<br>><br>> Somewhere in our growing up we began to be aware of
> the meaning of days<br>> and with that awareness came the birth of
> patriotism. July Fourth is <br>> the<br>> birthday of our nation. I
> believed as a boy, and believe even more<br>> today, that it is the
> birthday of the greatest nation on earth.<br>><br>> There is a legend
> about the day of our nation's birth in the little <br>> hall<br>> in
> Philadelphia, a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men<br>>
> gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had
>
> <br>> flouted<br>> the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to
> sign the<br>> Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act
> that the <br>> walls<br>> resounded with the words "treason, the
> gallows, the headsman's axe," <br>> and<br>> the issue remained in
> doubt.<br>><br>> The legend says that at that point a man rose and
> spoke. He is <br>> described<br>> as not a young man, but one who had to
> summon all his energy for an<br>> impassioned plea. He cited the
> grievances that had brought them to this<br>> moment and finally, his
> voice falling, he said, "They may turn every<br>> tree into a gallows,
> every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that<br>> parchment can
> never die.<br>><br>> To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak
> hope; to the slave in<br>> the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign
> if the next moment the<br>> noose is around your neck, for that
> parchment will be the textbook of<br>> freedom, the Bible of the rights
> of man forever."<br>><br>> He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates,
> swept up by his eloquence,<br>> rushed forward and signed that document
> destined to be as immortal as a<br>> work of man can be. When they
> turned to thank him for his timely<br>> oratory, he was not to be found,
> nor could any be found who knew who he<br>> was or how he had come in or
> gone out through the locked and guarded<br>> doors.<br>><br>> Well, that
> is the legend. But we do know for certain that 56 men, a<br>> little
> band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged<br>>
> their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their<br>>
> lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all<br>>
> preserved their sacred honor.<br>><br>> What manner of men were they?
> Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists,<br>> eleven were merchants and
> tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were<br>> soft-spoken men of
> means and education; they were not an unwashed<br>> rabble. They had
> achieved security but valued freedom more. Their<br>> stories have not
> been told nearly eno
>
> ug
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