Thanks to Powder Springs for Independence Day Celebration

Dear Readers,

Thought it a good time to get away from politics, issues and such and reflect on one of the great occasions in our Country's history that is still celebrated.

Every school boy and girl should know what the 4th is all about. I am not about to be a teacher here, that is allegedly the responsibility of our school system. More about that another time. 

For us here in this area it is still nice to know that we can put on of this great occasion. WE can thank the city of Powder Springs for this. And, we can thank the persistence of one person namely our Mayor Vaughn who has seen this through for almost 17 years! 

This just did not happen out of the ground or concrete. Persons had to work hard at getting everything right: There was, of course, the ticklish matter of a good fireworks vendor of which we have now had for the past many years.

Then there are the popular vendors. You have to make sure that they are able to handle the large number of hungry visitors, they have to have health permits and a decent facade.

Then there are sponsors. These are the folks who put up large signs and banners but pay big bucks for advertising to 10,000 persons, not a bad deal. The money goes to help defray of the many expenses. We are grateful for them.

Then there is the Patriotic Program which is the gist of the day, the color guard and music. Then comes a band that everyone likes.

The weather that time of year . This year it was steam hot and we had a few sprinkles early on. Despite that we had hefty crowds. The Mayor reminds us that we had rain outs in 2000/2011. I recall that in 2000 we actually had a few persons call and ask why we never started the fireworks earlier. When it was still daylight!

Speaking of bands, our first band was the Dennis Bellamy band, Yes, he of the . 

I am still missing some other elements to putting this together. We have had excellent cooperation from our , Explorers and Departments for before and after the event. Speaking of which we rarely have any problems with accidents, crashes or other violations. The next day everything is in place and looks like nothing happened much less that 10,000 party goers were there. 

I always thought that yes, small towns do have big city problems, but only small towns can put together something like this every year in a row..
I think that we should be especially proud of this and other events, although much smaller, where we can all feel comfortable in attending.

Download the movie