Ooh...Aaah...
A few years ago, I was renting a house in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. It was the 4th of July, and I wanted to watch one of the grand fireworks displays, so we walked down to the park overlooking Elliott Bay and downtown Seattle. Upon first glance, it was what I was looking for - a nice wide lawn with neighborhood folks scattered about on lawn chairs or picnic blankets, staking their spot for the show. My boyfriend and I walked up to the south edge of the park, the closest spot to the fireworks, where several other people had congregated as well for the big show. As it got dark enough and the fireworks started, everyone fell silent - yes, silent - and they remained that way through the entire show. A few people down from us stood a father and a daughter. The daughter was being held in her father's arms and when she exclaimed, "Wow! Look at all of the colors!" her father 'shushed' her for speaking above a whisper. As I looked around me, I realized that everyone was silent and no one felt free to express an "ooh" or an "ahh" at the fireworks display. Maybe this was how they did things in Seattle, I thought, but I couldn't be sure - after all, it was my first time watching a Seattle fireworks display in a public place. But it did strike me deeply that these people were so staid, or so worried about what others thought that they kept absolutely quiet during the show. How could they be silent? Didn't everyone "ooh and ahh" in unison at all fireworks shows? Were these people without emotion? Had I landed on another planet?
It made me think of home, and how much I was missing out on. Pullman 4th of Julys had always been magical. When I was young, my dad would take us to the fireworks stand in the Dissmores or old Safeway parking lot (the really old one that now houses UPS) and we'd buy up ground bloomers, whistling petes, sparklers, roman candles, those boring snakes or smoke bombs, and a couple of fountain display fireworks, if we had the money that year. We'd take our bag of goodies home where dad would carefully stash them away until a day or two before the big day.
Dad was always a careful sort, but he did love to set off his fireworks for us kids. Ground bloomers were his favorite. They'd go buzzing around the street in front of our house, in their multi-colored display, looking a lot like those scrubbing bubbles in that bathroom cleaner commercial. We watched in fear as inevitably, one would bounce its way underneath a car parked across the street, and stay there, spewing out a flame of fire until it burned out, and we were able to exhale, knowing that we weren't going to be the cause of burning up one of our neighbors' cars.
One year - and I'm still not sure what prompted this idea - my mom made flyers on half sheets of white paper inviting neighbors on our street to join their neighbors on our lawn for a 4th of July celebration. I was assigned with the task of running these flyers up and down Clifford Street, placing them in-between people's screen doors and their front doors, until the flyers were gone. When the big day came, people brought out their card tables and lawn chairs and 4th of July cakes and snacks, and their own bag of 'firework stand' fireworks and the crowd was so big that we sprawled out onto our neighbor's lawn as well. We enjoyed each other's company for several hours, with someone keeping watch for cars coming down Harrison Street, setting off a grand display of everyone's favorite fireworks. It was wonderful to have all of the neighbors together for one day a year - we were usually either shut up in our houses all winter, or off on vacation all summer, or out working our summer jobs, so it wasn't often that we got together. In fact, my family wasn't really the social type - we didn't have many friends over except the police chief and his wife once in a while to play penny poker, so social events were a joy for me.
After the fireworks were gone and the detrius had been cleaned from the streets, everyone packed up their things and left for the big fireworks display at Sunnyside Park. To get a good spot on the lawn, (for us, preferably away from the drafty fish ponds and up on the hill behind the barbeque shelter) families had to leave well before dusk because parking was atrocious and you had to find a spot on a side street down the hill or make your own along the highway. My friends and I would look for our other friends who would be roaming around the park in an effort to distance themselves from their uncool parents, to enjoy the time before the first fireworks were set off. You could buy a slice of pie at the shelter, walk over to the announcer's stage, or play in the heavily barked play area in the middle of it all. Once the fireworks were underway, you found your space fast, and laid down on your back to get the full effect of the fireworks that were exploding overhead in huge balls of light and the occasional loud boom. Most years brought good weather for the 4th, but on occasion, it would be cloudy and threatened rain, and the fireworks display would be in doubt - even postponed, if necessary. The clouds weren't so bad - they'd bring a nice backdrop against which the fireworks would seem more illuminated even bigger at times. But it was always best if the day was full of warm sunshine and the night drifted into a beautiful Palouse sunset before turning to blue/black with stars twinkling overhead.
I've been back to town for a few 4th of July celebrations since I left town. Just last year, I wanted to do the whole 4th of July circuit with my friend who lives in Pullman, who I visit several times in the spring and summer each year. We drove out to Johnson for its wonderful, quirky parade - one neither of us had been to in all of our years growing up in Pullman, which I regretted. We took pictures, greeted old friends, marveled at others who had grown up, married, divorced, remarried and had children of their own. We then went back to my friend's house for mid-day margaritas and to cool off for a while as the weather was in the 80's. We tried to make it to the Albion picnic, but it was too hot in the mid-day sun so we opted to stay in and relax with our feet in the kiddie pool before we had to head off to the fireworks display that evening.
Moscow also used to have a 4th of July celebration that was set to music - I think it was originally provided by one of the local radio stations. They no longer have their own fireworks display, a loss to many in their community, but an opportunity for the two communities to celebrate together at the Pullman display, and an idea that will thankfully be safer for Moscow residents traveling to Pullman, once the new 4-lane highway is completed between the two cities.
At some point over the years, Pullman added music to their fireworks display, maybe in an attempt to make the show more interesting, or to fill the gaps in-between the launching of the fireworks. I find it much more enjoyable to watch the fireworks without music so that I can marvel at them and hear my neighbors' comments on them, rather than having to drown out the sounds of "I'm proud to be an American" garishly booming over loudspeakers that don't seem to handle the processing of quality sound. Regardless of the effect on my ears, last year's visit proved that the fireworks show is as great as it always was and it has some great new additions as well - Dan Maher performs early in the day, followed by the Kingpins who perform on a large stage over the baseball field. They've also added Transit service to the park so that you don't have to fight for parking. It's all still so charming, and so great to sit in a sea of what seems like the whole town of people yelling "ooh and ahh" alternately at every firework burst. As we walked through the old cemetery to our cars following the show, the smell of sulphur lingering throughout the town and a yellow cloud of smoke hanging heavily in the air, I was thankful that Pullman's residents were still not afraid to express sounds of delight during their fireworks display, and that while much had changed in the town, the important things, like community coming together on the 4th of July, still remained. - Jana
If you're planning to attend the fireworks celebration in Pullman this year, be sure to drop a few bucks in one of the collection jars located at local businesses around town or bring your donation to the Pullman Chamber of Commerce so they can pay the $12,000 bill that it takes to put on the celebration. If you haven't given already, there's no doubt that you may feel guilty driving past the fundraiser thermometer in front of the Chamber on Grand Avenue, so release your anxiety and give a few bucks to the cause. If you can't afford to make a donation, consider volunteering your time to the event. The Chamber needs many volunteers to pull this event off each year, and I doubt it would feel like work.
It made me think of home, and how much I was missing out on. Pullman 4th of Julys had always been magical. When I was young, my dad would take us to the fireworks stand in the Dissmores or old Safeway parking lot (the really old one that now houses UPS) and we'd buy up ground bloomers, whistling petes, sparklers, roman candles, those boring snakes or smoke bombs, and a couple of fountain display fireworks, if we had the money that year. We'd take our bag of goodies home where dad would carefully stash them away until a day or two before the big day.
Dad was always a careful sort, but he did love to set off his fireworks for us kids. Ground bloomers were his favorite. They'd go buzzing around the street in front of our house, in their multi-colored display, looking a lot like those scrubbing bubbles in that bathroom cleaner commercial. We watched in fear as inevitably, one would bounce its way underneath a car parked across the street, and stay there, spewing out a flame of fire until it burned out, and we were able to exhale, knowing that we weren't going to be the cause of burning up one of our neighbors' cars.
One year - and I'm still not sure what prompted this idea - my mom made flyers on half sheets of white paper inviting neighbors on our street to join their neighbors on our lawn for a 4th of July celebration. I was assigned with the task of running these flyers up and down Clifford Street, placing them in-between people's screen doors and their front doors, until the flyers were gone. When the big day came, people brought out their card tables and lawn chairs and 4th of July cakes and snacks, and their own bag of 'firework stand' fireworks and the crowd was so big that we sprawled out onto our neighbor's lawn as well. We enjoyed each other's company for several hours, with someone keeping watch for cars coming down Harrison Street, setting off a grand display of everyone's favorite fireworks. It was wonderful to have all of the neighbors together for one day a year - we were usually either shut up in our houses all winter, or off on vacation all summer, or out working our summer jobs, so it wasn't often that we got together. In fact, my family wasn't really the social type - we didn't have many friends over except the police chief and his wife once in a while to play penny poker, so social events were a joy for me.
After the fireworks were gone and the detrius had been cleaned from the streets, everyone packed up their things and left for the big fireworks display at Sunnyside Park. To get a good spot on the lawn, (for us, preferably away from the drafty fish ponds and up on the hill behind the barbeque shelter) families had to leave well before dusk because parking was atrocious and you had to find a spot on a side street down the hill or make your own along the highway. My friends and I would look for our other friends who would be roaming around the park in an effort to distance themselves from their uncool parents, to enjoy the time before the first fireworks were set off. You could buy a slice of pie at the shelter, walk over to the announcer's stage, or play in the heavily barked play area in the middle of it all. Once the fireworks were underway, you found your space fast, and laid down on your back to get the full effect of the fireworks that were exploding overhead in huge balls of light and the occasional loud boom. Most years brought good weather for the 4th, but on occasion, it would be cloudy and threatened rain, and the fireworks display would be in doubt - even postponed, if necessary. The clouds weren't so bad - they'd bring a nice backdrop against which the fireworks would seem more illuminated even bigger at times. But it was always best if the day was full of warm sunshine and the night drifted into a beautiful Palouse sunset before turning to blue/black with stars twinkling overhead.
I've been back to town for a few 4th of July celebrations since I left town. Just last year, I wanted to do the whole 4th of July circuit with my friend who lives in Pullman, who I visit several times in the spring and summer each year. We drove out to Johnson for its wonderful, quirky parade - one neither of us had been to in all of our years growing up in Pullman, which I regretted. We took pictures, greeted old friends, marveled at others who had grown up, married, divorced, remarried and had children of their own. We then went back to my friend's house for mid-day margaritas and to cool off for a while as the weather was in the 80's. We tried to make it to the Albion picnic, but it was too hot in the mid-day sun so we opted to stay in and relax with our feet in the kiddie pool before we had to head off to the fireworks display that evening.
Moscow also used to have a 4th of July celebration that was set to music - I think it was originally provided by one of the local radio stations. They no longer have their own fireworks display, a loss to many in their community, but an opportunity for the two communities to celebrate together at the Pullman display, and an idea that will thankfully be safer for Moscow residents traveling to Pullman, once the new 4-lane highway is completed between the two cities.
At some point over the years, Pullman added music to their fireworks display, maybe in an attempt to make the show more interesting, or to fill the gaps in-between the launching of the fireworks. I find it much more enjoyable to watch the fireworks without music so that I can marvel at them and hear my neighbors' comments on them, rather than having to drown out the sounds of "I'm proud to be an American" garishly booming over loudspeakers that don't seem to handle the processing of quality sound. Regardless of the effect on my ears, last year's visit proved that the fireworks show is as great as it always was and it has some great new additions as well - Dan Maher performs early in the day, followed by the Kingpins who perform on a large stage over the baseball field. They've also added Transit service to the park so that you don't have to fight for parking. It's all still so charming, and so great to sit in a sea of what seems like the whole town of people yelling "ooh and ahh" alternately at every firework burst. As we walked through the old cemetery to our cars following the show, the smell of sulphur lingering throughout the town and a yellow cloud of smoke hanging heavily in the air, I was thankful that Pullman's residents were still not afraid to express sounds of delight during their fireworks display, and that while much had changed in the town, the important things, like community coming together on the 4th of July, still remained. - Jana
If you're planning to attend the fireworks celebration in Pullman this year, be sure to drop a few bucks in one of the collection jars located at local businesses around town or bring your donation to the Pullman Chamber of Commerce so they can pay the $12,000 bill that it takes to put on the celebration. If you haven't given already, there's no doubt that you may feel guilty driving past the fundraiser thermometer in front of the Chamber on Grand Avenue, so release your anxiety and give a few bucks to the cause. If you can't afford to make a donation, consider volunteering your time to the event. The Chamber needs many volunteers to pull this event off each year, and I doubt it would feel like work.
posted by Jana at 8:54 AM
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