4th of July... my town stinks!

[dabvu2498]

Bummer... I'm 30 years old and I love fireworks. Guess Friday's post game display will have to do for me this year.

How do your towns celebrate the 4th?

MIDDLETOWN: No boom, just fizzle on Fourth of July
By Eric Robinette

Staff Writer

There will be no rockets’ red glare or bombs bursting in air over Middletown this Fourth of July, but community leaders are working to see that fireworks will return next year.

When All American Weekend folded earlier this year, Middletown’s fireworks display also fizzled. The Middletown High School Athletic Boosters canceled this year’s festival, citing low attendance and revenues.

“I like fireworks, but there’s no shortage of places having them,” said Mark Webb of Middletown.

Middletown residents eager to see a dazzling pyrotechnic display will have to travel to nearby Lebanon, Hamilton or Eaton.

Jessica Osborne, 20, said she planned to go to Cincinnati to see fireworks.

“It was kind of like a tradition here,” she said about the Middletown display.

Kevin Howard, 13, said he may shoot his own firecrackers instead.

“I was mad, because now I don’t have a reason to go with my dad,” he said about learning of the event’s cancellation.

Middletown’s signature holiday weekend event this year will be the new Main Street Art and Music Festival, which takes place Saturday. The event will feature nearly 20 different music acts performing in the area of Broad Street and Central Avenue and Main Street, but no fireworks.

And that’s not for lack of trying, said Sue Rogers, a member of the Art Central Foundation, which helped coordinate the festival.

“We made a few phone calls, but we were going to have to go to so many businesses and people (for money) it just wouldn’t work,” said Rogers.

But, the Art Central Foundation intends to bring the fireworks back to Middletown for July 2007.

The group plans to raise the money gradually so that Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks, which stages most area shows, can be booked in advance, Rogers said. The cost of the annual fireworks display was about $20,000.

Trenton also is without its own fireworks display for the second year in a row, said Mayor, Rhonda Freeze. Trenton’s fireworks fell victim to budgetary constraints, she said.

“It’s so unfortunate because the event draws a lot of people,” Freeze said, estimating that 200 to 300 people came to Trenton’s display.

Attendance figures were not available for All American Weekend, but organizers said most people seemed to come for the fireworks, leaving the Smith Park event sparsely populated on its other days.

In previous years, Middletown’s fireworks display was made possible through the combined efforts of local businessmen Perry Thatcher, Steve Posey and Bill Akers, and the late former state Sen. Barry Levey. They sponsored a display the first time All American Weekend took a hiatus in 2003.

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/...fireworks.html

[BRM]

There is a fireworks ban in Colorado this year. The big, professional shows will still take place but there are huge fines for people setting them off on their property.

[westofyou]

How do your towns celebrate the 4th?

Fireworks are up and down the river here, probably 3-4 spots.. of course it doesn't get dark until after 10 so we have to wait. The state allows fireworks, but they can't go above 6 feet from the ground, so just pretty ground flairs and the such. But Washington allows everything and that stuff ends up all over town, so the whole weekend is a mess of explosions and barking dogs.

[redsfan30]

If you're in Middletown, you're close enough you could drive somewhere else to see another town's show aren't you?

[dabvu2498]

so the whole weekend is a mess of explosions and barking dogs.

I'm getting a new dog this weekend. She's going to think I brought her there to torture her. I think we'll spend most of the weekend evenings in the basement.

PS: I live out in the sticks. People will actually shoot guns into the air as part of the celebrations. New Years sounds like the Gunfight at the OK Corral.

[dabvu2498]

If you're in Middletown, you're close enough you could drive somewhere else to see another town's show aren't you?

I could see Middletown's from my front porch.

and driving don't mix.

[Danny Serafini]

I live in Sylvania, a suburb of Toledo. Our fireworks show is on July 3rd so it doesn't clash with Toledo's. The fireworks are shot off literally 1000 feet or so from my house, so I've always got great seats for the show.

[minus5]

I remember being at Middletown's All American Weekend one year and they shot them WAY too close to the crowd. There were 4 & 5" morters hitting the the ground and the crowd, it was insane. My band was part of the entertainment so we all stayed on the stage because it had a metal roof over it. The empty shells hitting the metal roof were almost as loud as the explosions. It was weird.

[zombie-a-go-go]

Fireworks bore the crap out of me.

So I suppose I'll have to use something else for a diuretic this year. Shrug.

[Red in Chicago]

i hate fireworks...or at least the noisy ones...mostly because they scare the hell out of my dog...the poor thing shakes like crazy and hides in the bathroom or under the bed...

[MWM]

I didn't realize anyone still lived in Middletown. I thought everyone had left. I have lots of memories of traveling to play the Middies (they have a great football stadium, best grass in the city) and losing in football and basketball, but always winning in baseball.

I love Weatherwax, though.