[July 07, 2014]LINCOLN - Friday morning the
temperatures were cool, but the sky was a bright blue with light
fluffy clouds scattered round about.
It was the perfect beginning of what would prove to be a perfect
day for celebrating the 4th of July.
The Holiday’s activities in Lincoln began at approximately 9:30 a.m.
as kids gathered on the south side of Scully Park for the ninth
annual old-fashioned Children’s Walking Parade. The parade that is
hosted by the Lincoln Park District has become a very popular 4th of
July attraction.
Children gathered with their bicycles, parents brought little ones
in strollers and wagons, and pet parents proudly brought out their
dogs to join in the march from Scully Park to the Lincoln Park
District Recreation Center.
Every entry, including the pets, were wildly and beautifully
decorated to commemorate the day. Kids had spent time decorating
their bikes with flags, flowers, streamers and more, all in the
patriotic colors of red, white and blue.
Before the parade began, the judges had a tough job to do; going
around to each age group and picking which was the best of best in
decoration.
When the parade stepped off, this year there was a new addition to
the escort vehicles, an Army Jeep driven by Lincoln Fire Chief Mark
Miller, with Roy Logan of the park district as his passenger.
The parade left Scully Park headed south to Wyatt Avenue and then on
to the recreation center. Along the way, there were several small
clusters of parade watchers, cheering and waving at parade
participants.
Chuck and Judy Conzo walked along the route and rewarded parade
watchers with gifts of candy.
When the group arrived at the park district they were treated to
bottled water and sweet snacks. Mayor Keith Snyder awarded the
winners of the various categories their prizes.
When that part of the day ended, the kids were invited to join in
the annual park district versus city of Lincoln Fire Department
water fight.
Each year, there is a definite disagreement on who won the battle,
and this year was no different, but it was pretty obvious who stole
the show.
With the city of Lincoln Police Chief Ken Greenslate and Mayor
Snyder taking the side of the park district kids, they seemed to be
working diligently on getting the best of fire chief Miller, and at
times they did.
Then in an odd turn of events, it appeared that the police chief
turned on his team mate, dousing the mayor with a trash can full of
water. Not to be outdone, the mayor with the assistance of Roy Logan
attempted to dump a black trash bag full of water on the police
chief! What no one can figure out, even looking at the numerous
photos of the melee, is how on earth did Mayor Snyder end up with
the trash bag stuck on his head?
While, in years past, the goal of the battle appeared to be
the storming of the fire truck, this year, Chief Miller was the
obvious target for many of the kids. They even managed to steal
away a hand pump weapon the chief had brought, and turned it on
him, as well as each other.
When the water was shut off, there
was still fun to have as the gallons of liquid had left large
puddles in the park district lawn, and a river of water along the
street gutter. Many of the kids took advantage of this, to do a
little more splashing before calling it a day.
In the evening, folks flocked back to the park district to enjoy a
night of good music and, of course, fireworks. The activities began
at approximately 7:30 p.m. with a DJ on hand playing some great
music.
Families came out with their lawn chairs and blankets. Kids
played on the lawn while parents and grandparents watched from the
comfort of their chairs.
The food stand stayed busy most of the evening with cold drinks,
corn dogs and fries seen in the hands of many.
Kids also enjoyed spending time at the park district’s playground.
There were also plenty of sparklers and smoke bombs being set off
before the real show began.
As the nine o’clock hour passed, the color guard stepped out onto
the lawn and proudly displayed our nation’s colors and the Star
Spangled Banner played over the sound system.
Then the rest of the night was all about the fireworks. With
multiple loud and colorful launches to kick off the night, guests
cheered and clapped. The fireworks this year were excellent, and it
appeared that everyone enjoyed them.
At the end of the evening, with the last cascade of explosives
saluting the end of the day, crowds clapped, cheered and honked
their car horns in appreciation.
When the last light of the last explosive faded into the night,
guests returned to their cars, and headed out. It was another great
4th, a perfect 4th in fact. Now all that remains is to look forward
to another one next year!
