4th of July

There was no rockets red glare. Not even a firecracker. Not a sparkler.

The only fireworks I saw this 4th pholks, was on television and only a few glimpses on the news and the grand celebration with the Boston Pops.

I haven't purchased fireworks for several years. The last time probably was as a contribution to a July 4th backyard party or some sort of barbeque or potluck. I didn't attend any July 3rd or 4th shows.

This year, my wife and I went to the movies and watched Harrison Ford in the latest non-stop action thriller Indiana Jones. We didn't barbecue but splurged on a couple of special fast food burgers.

It's also been a couple years since we have gone to the coast for the 4th, a treat for thousands of Valley pholks for decades. The economy and out-of-sight fuel prices put that out of the question for the majority of us. Couple that with hundreds of thousands of acres of the state already ablaze and the fire danger at the extreme and that did it.

With Governor Arnold urging people not to buy fireworks and the economic plunge, charitable groups, schools, clubs and others trying to raise funds floundered, for the most part. I don't ever remember a quieter July 4th.

But it got me to thinking that there is so much more to marking out nation's birth that just shooting off fireworks, having big parties, eating and drinking to excess, racing to get to the same vacation spot as hundreds of others, camping in a 10-foot-by-20-foot spot about two feet from strangers, or trying to water ski or jet ski or whatever on a crowded lake or finding a patch of beach not already staked out with an obnoxious or crude beach towel.

We can do that if we choose, but let's not forget all the effort, toil, blood, sweat and personal sacrifice by not only our founding fathers but all those in the past who have made freedom possible, as well as lasting.

Sure it's an election year, as well as an Olympic year, so the Red, White and Blue will be waiving to beat the band for the rest of this year.

So the way I see it, even though we are suffering in an energy and fuel crisis, we need to take this patriotism a few notches higher for the rest of the year, making darned sure we put some thought into our flag waiving, cheering, voting and all that goes with it. That is a safe and sane way to celebrate a very important birthday.

ANOTHER REASON TO PAUSE and reflect was the news of the passing of Arthur John Stobbe, who died last month at age 91.

Long time Visalians will remember Art for lots of various reasons. Years ago, I wrote about Art in a column in which I referred to him as a renaissance man and a man for all seasons. Art Stobbe probably was one of the smartest and most interesting individuals I've ever known. For many years, he was Visalia's librarian and served as a consultant to Visalia City Manager Ted Gaebler until his retirement in 1978.

A graduate of Marquette University with a degree in journalism, he became a sports reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. During the War, he was an Army drill sergeant and in the Army Air Corps as navigator of a B-17. He earned his master's degree in library science at Syracuse University and later attended U.C. Berkeley, Oregon State and Rice universities. He taught at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and was also a sports statistician, a task he later performed at College of the Sequoias and was the original scorekeeper for the Visalia Mets and Oaks. He had baseball box scores for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox from his childhood and from years and years of other teams.

He was an avid golfer but one of his most favorite hobbies was chess by mail. It was not unusual for him to be playing dozens of chess matches games with opponents in dozens of countries.

For a reporter, Art Stobbe was the guy to call. For a good guy and a friend, Art was at the top.

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com