Freedom Fest
2009 Freedom Fest Page 1
2009 Freedom Fest Page 2
With the 4th of July approaching, I’ve been reflecting on the celebrations of my youth. My small hometown puts on a “Freedom Fest” every year and it’s quite the spectacle. Here’s how the agenda for the day would usually go down.
7:00a.m- Wake up and walk across the street to the park to stuff myself full of pancakes and watch the runners come in from the annual 5k race. Is there a better way to celebrate our country’s independence than to wolf down a butt-ton of carbs while watching people have mini-strokes running in 90 degree heat?
12:00p.m.- Line up downtown and get ready to watch the big parade. Or, more accurately, get ready to pounce upon all the candy that will thrown my way and elbow any kid that tries to muscle in on my turf. Lay off, bitches, those Smarties are mine!
2:00p.m.- Go out to the park district and watch the mud volleyball/softball/tractor pull tournaments. It will also be at this time that I devour all the tasty carnie food that is being sold. Cotton candy, onion rings, elephant ears, & lemon shake-ups will be the bulk of my food pyramid.
3:00p.m.- I mentally prepare for the Lion’s Club Penny Scramble. My father is a member, so I always feel I will have the upper hand in searching through the stacks of hay for coins. Yes, I said stacks of hay. There really is no better sensation on a hot summer’s day, than having to (again) elbow a bunch of little kids as we all frantically search through hay for pennies. There is always one coveted silver dollar in the stack. Do you think I ever found it? No. Did I come out feeling morally defeated, with hay stuck to me with my own sweat? Yes.
4:00p.m.- Vomit up all the carnie food I gorged on.
5:00p.m- Go to the Methodist Church’s Ice Cream Social. Because I am now hungry from purging up all my food, I stuff myself again with cherry pie a la’ mode.
6:00p.m- Quick nap in preparation for the evening’s fireworks display.
9:00p.m.- Let the fireworks begin! Now, one might think that a small town would have a shitty fireworks display. Well, think again! The townsfolk work all year to raise the money (I’ve heard it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars) to bring a company in from Chicago to put on the show. It’s AWAZING and draws a huge crowd from all over the state. It’s actually better than most big city displays…Ha!
Sadly, I haven’t been able to make it home in the last few years to truly enjoy the opulence that is Galva’s Freedom Fest, but I am there in my heart. I wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July! Have fun and be safe wherever you celebrate!
“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free…”
Sounds gastronomically spectacular. I bet after all that food, the explosions in the sky are not the only ones experienced.
Dave- Yes, the 4th always reaked havic on my colon!
I can testify that the Freedom Fest firework display lived up to it’s glory once again. It was better than the fireworks display I saw last night at Lake Bloomington!
It was a little bit of a bummer that it rained all day on the 4th and everything else was canceled. They moved everything to Sunday so I missed out it. You didn’t mention the talent show… one of my favorite events of the weekend!
I have GREAT memories of Galva’s 4th! Guess what I did this year? I bought my family,my mom’s family, and Kris’s family ALL flag tshirts/tank tops!!! It was dorky and FUN! I remember us all having them one year in Galva! My kids loved it…Wes and Ron forgot they were “matching” and went to run an errand togther, they looked like quite a cute couple!
Val- I’m so jealous you got to see the fireworks!
Colleen- Awe, yes, the Galva 4th! I TOTALLY remember the year we all had those flag t-shirts…in fact, I’m pretty sure my mom has a pic of it in her office! I wish I could have seen Kris and Ron doing the “matching couple thing”