Old Fashioned July 4th

The nation is now one year older and practically all the fireworks have been shot off, hopefully.

For the first time in years, I attended the July 4th show at Mineral King Bowl, hoping some of the excitement of past July 4ths might be rekindled.

Well pholks, the music by Run For Cover, which has become an icon in local entertainment circles, was great. The nearly dozen or so musicians, singers and on-stage entertainers have been generating some of the best sounds around the Valley for nearly 20 years. These guys and gals are outstanding and have earned rave reviews far and wide. They enjoy what they do and they do it well. They are a treat, especially to those of us who thrive on the music of the 60s, 70s, 80s and even the 90s.

But pholks, the music was the best, and practically the only part of the evening's entertainment reminiscent of past July 4th Bowl Bashes. There is simply too much missing from what used to be one of the most entertaining Fourth shows in the Valley.

Without contributions from the city of Visalia, County Supervisors, various corporate and even individual sponsors, there would have been no show this year. I'm glad it happened. But pholks, it lacked the juice it used to have, and that is a shame.

It's hard to say enough about those efforts and to cheer loud enough all those who contributed to keep a tradition going on the most American of holidays. Donations were taken at the gate to help offset the costs but I'm sure it wasn't a large take.

It says a lot about a community and its citizens when these kinds of things happen, especially when nearly everyone is impacted by this economy.

Several times, I have watched the aerial displays fill the Visalia skies from a distance choosing not to make the effort to go inside the stadium, take a grandstand seat and watch the show, knowing that the show has changed.
I knew many of the ground displays which were iconic to the Visalia show wouldn't be there. But I was shocked to see that not a single display was planned for those choosing to take a stadium seat. Hundreds, if not thousands of pholks parked around the bowl, gathered on lawns and sidewalks to watch the fireworks and listen, but none to see the musical entertainment which lasted a couple hours prior to the bombs bursting in air, which lasted only about 10 minutes. Those displays are costly and it is understandable why the show was so short.

How many of you pholks remember the great shows in the 70s, 80s and maybe beyond when the stadium was packed thanks to the thousands of hours of volunteer time spent to create a fantastic event? There were a few dozen Visalia firemen, California Edison Company workers, service club volunteers and lots of others, many of them working for free, involved in engineering, designing, assembling and erecting displays and firing off such creations as the Anvil Salute, Flanders Field, the playing of Taps, the Niagara Falls and the Racing Doves, giant pinwheels, a blazing portrait of the American flag, Roman candles and two to three-minute fountains. Those and other things sparked oooohs and aaauhhhhs from the several thousand spectators.

For those of you who missed those things, let me tell you about a couple. The Anvil Salute involved two large anvils, one inverted on the other with black powder sandwiched between with a long fuse. When fired off, the concussion rocked the stadium and the spectators and sent the top anvil 20 to 30 feet in the air. The Flying Doves, maybe not the official name, were flame-shooting rockets sent zipping back and forth on wire mounted on power polls at each end of the stadium. Back and forth for several minutes they flew. The Niagara Falls sent a 100-yard long of sparkling silver cascading to the field. Spectacular. The most emotional heart-tugging moment, of course, came when Flanders Field, a display of several dozen cemetery crosses were ignited and burned brilliantly white as Taps was played.

It was hard to forget that the show was coming. A Fourth of July wakeup blast from the thundering and earth-shaking boomers fired just after sunrise, was the signal that America's birthday had arrived.

For a number of weeks, firemen put wooden frames together and mounted the fireworks on them at the firehouse under the supervision of certified fireworks experts whose skills were displayed in blazing glory a minute or two at a time.

And as the big day neared, especially the night of July 3rd, Mineral King Bowl was a busy place. It was a work party and lots of teamwork went into the task. Holes for power poles were drilled, poles erected, lines strung and sky rockets were readied.

Another part of the tradition was a steak dinner after the show for those who worked on the event. That party was also a blast.

I know that restrictions and safety regulations and other factors, including economic woes, have caused some of the show highlights to fizzle out. But I think it needs to be revived.

How about looking into the idea of igniting a “new” old fashioned July 4th event at Mineral King Stadium?

I'm open to suggestions on how to get 'er done.

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com