Fourth of July: The Greatest Hits
July 4, circa 1980: Hammond, WI
I am sitting on the grass with Jean and Katie Hawkins waiting for the fireworks begin. There are a group of men lining up the fireworks in things that look like pipes sticking out of the ground. I hear someone say that they're not sure if there will be fireworks because the guys in charge of the fireworks have been drinking beer all day. There are oohs and aahs as each set of fireworks are lit and explode in the dark sky. Near the lighting area, a sparkler-like display lights up to create an American flag and is maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen.
July 4, circa 1985: NYC
Our family takes a long vacation on the East coast to New York, Boston and Washington D.C. We plan the trip so that we'll be in New York over the Fourth of July. This is my first time to New York, and I feel especially cool to be in such a large city and spend a lot of my time trying to act like I belong there. We take the subway (my first trip on a subway) and sit across from a man who could not stop sneezing. He sneezes so hard he knocked his packages over, and like I imagine a New Yorker would act, I pretend that nothing happened as did my dad and brother. My mom starts cracking up and I then pretend that I don't know her. The power goes out in the subway and we are told to board a bus (my first time on a city bus). After our long journey, we stake out a place in the middle of a street where we think we'll have the perfect view of the fireworks. We stand there for a long time, the streets fill up and people point their radios out of their apartment and store windows toward the street. The buzz on the street is that the fireworks will be shot off from three places across the water and it will be timed to match music broadcast from a radio station - all sponsored by Macy's, which is the epitome of cool to a smalltown girl. After waiting for what must be hours, the fireworks finally begin. My dad picked the perfect spot and we can see fireworks from ALL THREE locations. Then, a seven-foot tall man stands in front of my mom. And keeps lifting his girlfriend above his head so that she can catch a better view. My mom taps him on the waist (which was about as high as a person can reach) and tells him that he better move because we flew all the way from Minnesota and have been waiting in this spot forever. I pretend that I didn't know her, then enjoy the view after the man moves.
July 4, 1990: St. Joseph, MN and Cold Spring, MN
We've been traveling all summer with our marching band to exotic places like New York and Pittsfield, PA and have finally returned home. To appease the "local" crowds, we have to march in a local Fourth of July parade in St. Joe. The parade is a long one, and it's over 100 degrees. My friends and I decide to wear our bikinis underneath our long-sleeved polyester uniforms and immediately strip down in the street after the parade is over. We hop in my orange Bug and drive straight to my parent's house where we spend the rest of the day waterskiing and laying out lathered in baby oil and listening to Poison.
July 4, 1992: Bay Lake, MN
It's my first summer at Ruttger's and I've made fast friends with a wild and fantastic group of feminists who wear bright red lipstick and get all swanked out to go to bonfires. We mix up "strip and go nakeds" (get a pitcher, pour in a can of frozen lemonade, fill the can with vodka and pour it in the pitcher, fill the rest of the pitcher with beer, stir) then head out on someone's boat to watch the fireworks from the bay. I throw up over the side of the boat, then kiss a guy despite my obviously terrible breath. When we return to the resort, I find out that my former boyfriend from Cold Spring and his best friend had been to the resort to surprise me and left once they found out I was on the lake. I go to bed feeling like I hadn't made the best choices.
July 4, 1993: Bay Lake, MN
Sevda and I make good progress on a Gallo Gallon Blush Chablis which is cooled in a 5-gallon pickle pail on ice. We sit on the shore and listen to Mike Reller narrate the entire fireworks display, calling every other one a "Thin Lizzy." I think he's very clever, not realizing that it is the name of a band. Later, I amaze everyone with my former cheerleading skills and practically pull a muscle in my leg as I try to do jumps. It's a windy night, so I volunteer to hold the lighter as half a dozen people crowd around to try to light their sparklers. They all catch fire at the same time as does the thumb holding the lighter. I spend the next 20 minutes with Leslie Kohnen as she tries to patch me up with the first aid kit in the kitchen's break room. I go to bed feeling like I hadn't made the best choices with my thumb wrapped up in five pounds of gauze.
July 4, 1995: Bay Lake, MN
My parents rent a cabin at Ruttger's right on the lake with Jennifer and Gary Hawkins. We head over there to watch the fireworks and are joined by The Loomis', Geordie and Sevda's family. Jennifer Hawkins is wearing her sequined flag hat and Linda Loomis is wearing her flag sweater and a great discussion ensues about all the occasions where a gal can wear them (Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are agreed upon.) The bugs are bad, and Sevda's grandma (Babanya... although I'm sure I don't have that spelled correctly) covers her face with a layer of her dress to avoid the mosquitoes. I can see the outline of her glasses as she tries to watch the fireworks through the fabric. I nudge my mom so that she notices as well, and the nudge is passed down the line until we're all trying to slyly check her out without giggling until it reaches Sevda who is appalled and tells her move her dress back into place.
July 4, 1999: Cold Spring, MN
I am at my parents house on the lake and we are going for a long walk despite the hot, hot weather. I tell them that I have a date the following weekend with a new guy named Marty. We're planning on going to see a concert at the Minnesota Zoo. We go out in the boat, have a bonfire and fireworks with the neighbors, and I think about Marty and wonder if it's really a date or if he just invited me because he knows I like going to shows.
July 4, 2006: Hutchinson, MN
Grandma Mitchell, my dad and my mother-in-law will join Marty, the kids and I in Hutchinson for a barbecue. We'll sit on the deck, watch the kids play in the little pool and eat loads of good food. I will go to sleep knowing I made the best choices.
On the table today: Brisket East Texas Style, Amber Ale Baked Beans, potato salad, cole slaw with Rudolph's sauce, fruit and veggies.
I am sitting on the grass with Jean and Katie Hawkins waiting for the fireworks begin. There are a group of men lining up the fireworks in things that look like pipes sticking out of the ground. I hear someone say that they're not sure if there will be fireworks because the guys in charge of the fireworks have been drinking beer all day. There are oohs and aahs as each set of fireworks are lit and explode in the dark sky. Near the lighting area, a sparkler-like display lights up to create an American flag and is maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen.
July 4, circa 1985: NYC
Our family takes a long vacation on the East coast to New York, Boston and Washington D.C. We plan the trip so that we'll be in New York over the Fourth of July. This is my first time to New York, and I feel especially cool to be in such a large city and spend a lot of my time trying to act like I belong there. We take the subway (my first trip on a subway) and sit across from a man who could not stop sneezing. He sneezes so hard he knocked his packages over, and like I imagine a New Yorker would act, I pretend that nothing happened as did my dad and brother. My mom starts cracking up and I then pretend that I don't know her. The power goes out in the subway and we are told to board a bus (my first time on a city bus). After our long journey, we stake out a place in the middle of a street where we think we'll have the perfect view of the fireworks. We stand there for a long time, the streets fill up and people point their radios out of their apartment and store windows toward the street. The buzz on the street is that the fireworks will be shot off from three places across the water and it will be timed to match music broadcast from a radio station - all sponsored by Macy's, which is the epitome of cool to a smalltown girl. After waiting for what must be hours, the fireworks finally begin. My dad picked the perfect spot and we can see fireworks from ALL THREE locations. Then, a seven-foot tall man stands in front of my mom. And keeps lifting his girlfriend above his head so that she can catch a better view. My mom taps him on the waist (which was about as high as a person can reach) and tells him that he better move because we flew all the way from Minnesota and have been waiting in this spot forever. I pretend that I didn't know her, then enjoy the view after the man moves.
July 4, 1990: St. Joseph, MN and Cold Spring, MN
We've been traveling all summer with our marching band to exotic places like New York and Pittsfield, PA and have finally returned home. To appease the "local" crowds, we have to march in a local Fourth of July parade in St. Joe. The parade is a long one, and it's over 100 degrees. My friends and I decide to wear our bikinis underneath our long-sleeved polyester uniforms and immediately strip down in the street after the parade is over. We hop in my orange Bug and drive straight to my parent's house where we spend the rest of the day waterskiing and laying out lathered in baby oil and listening to Poison.
July 4, 1992: Bay Lake, MN
It's my first summer at Ruttger's and I've made fast friends with a wild and fantastic group of feminists who wear bright red lipstick and get all swanked out to go to bonfires. We mix up "strip and go nakeds" (get a pitcher, pour in a can of frozen lemonade, fill the can with vodka and pour it in the pitcher, fill the rest of the pitcher with beer, stir) then head out on someone's boat to watch the fireworks from the bay. I throw up over the side of the boat, then kiss a guy despite my obviously terrible breath. When we return to the resort, I find out that my former boyfriend from Cold Spring and his best friend had been to the resort to surprise me and left once they found out I was on the lake. I go to bed feeling like I hadn't made the best choices.
July 4, 1993: Bay Lake, MN
Sevda and I make good progress on a Gallo Gallon Blush Chablis which is cooled in a 5-gallon pickle pail on ice. We sit on the shore and listen to Mike Reller narrate the entire fireworks display, calling every other one a "Thin Lizzy." I think he's very clever, not realizing that it is the name of a band. Later, I amaze everyone with my former cheerleading skills and practically pull a muscle in my leg as I try to do jumps. It's a windy night, so I volunteer to hold the lighter as half a dozen people crowd around to try to light their sparklers. They all catch fire at the same time as does the thumb holding the lighter. I spend the next 20 minutes with Leslie Kohnen as she tries to patch me up with the first aid kit in the kitchen's break room. I go to bed feeling like I hadn't made the best choices with my thumb wrapped up in five pounds of gauze.
July 4, 1995: Bay Lake, MN
My parents rent a cabin at Ruttger's right on the lake with Jennifer and Gary Hawkins. We head over there to watch the fireworks and are joined by The Loomis', Geordie and Sevda's family. Jennifer Hawkins is wearing her sequined flag hat and Linda Loomis is wearing her flag sweater and a great discussion ensues about all the occasions where a gal can wear them (Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are agreed upon.) The bugs are bad, and Sevda's grandma (Babanya... although I'm sure I don't have that spelled correctly) covers her face with a layer of her dress to avoid the mosquitoes. I can see the outline of her glasses as she tries to watch the fireworks through the fabric. I nudge my mom so that she notices as well, and the nudge is passed down the line until we're all trying to slyly check her out without giggling until it reaches Sevda who is appalled and tells her move her dress back into place.
July 4, 1999: Cold Spring, MN
I am at my parents house on the lake and we are going for a long walk despite the hot, hot weather. I tell them that I have a date the following weekend with a new guy named Marty. We're planning on going to see a concert at the Minnesota Zoo. We go out in the boat, have a bonfire and fireworks with the neighbors, and I think about Marty and wonder if it's really a date or if he just invited me because he knows I like going to shows.
July 4, 2006: Hutchinson, MN
Grandma Mitchell, my dad and my mother-in-law will join Marty, the kids and I in Hutchinson for a barbecue. We'll sit on the deck, watch the kids play in the little pool and eat loads of good food. I will go to sleep knowing I made the best choices.
On the table today: Brisket East Texas Style, Amber Ale Baked Beans, potato salad, cole slaw with Rudolph's sauce, fruit and veggies.
I don't mind having been the invisible mom...aren't all moms of teenagers invisible?
A summer job at Ruttgers certainly wasn't a financial success, but it sure has provided you with a life filled with friends and great stories. (glad SOME of them are publishable)
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I sure love the 4th of July rundown, Jennie!
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