Small Town 4th

There's nothing quite like celebrating the 4th of July in my hometown. The day begins with a parade. The whole town turns out and it lasts for about 10 minutes. This year's parade consisted of the ambulance, the fire truck, some kids on bikes, some kids on horses, and a couple of home-made family floats (that were mostly just the family piled in the back of a truck with some signs and flags). It was awesome. Then we all went to the church were we have a program. The program this year was very good. We started with a prayer. The boy scouts posted the colors and we all recited the Pledge of Allegiance together. There is something powerful about that many people reciting the Pledge in unison and really meaning it. There were several musical numbers and dance numbers. An original poem was read and we watched a patriotic slide show with narration. Then we had the main speaker which was a state senator.
After the program everyone moves to the park to have lunch and enjoy games and races. Then everyone goes home for a few hours. We get together again in the evening. The boy scouts sell hotdogs and hamburgers to raise money for scout camp. This year one of the men in town made kettle corn for everyone. Then we have fireworks, paid for by donations of people in town. Everyone brings out their camp chairs and blankets and sets them up a couple hundred yards from where they're lighting the fireworks. It's so fun.