Crowd gathers to celebrate Fourth

Hundreds of people were making their way to H.V. Griffin Park Saturday afternoon, even before the Fourth of July celebration officially kicked off at 3 p.m. Old, young, white, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, or "simply gettin' by," they wandered past vendors, games and musical entertainment to celebrate the day together -- celebrating the freedom to assemble.

One booth offered information about taxes and the "Tea Party" tax protest that took place later that evening -- celebrating freedom of speech. Another group raised money for their outdoor ministry by selling desserts and drinks -- celebrating the freedom of religion. Yet another, a champion youth shooting team, represented the right to bear arms -- and the right to sell lemonade to wandering souls.

Mostly, they celebrated another American privilege -- the pursuit of happiness -- and no one had that aspect down better than the children. They ran from the bounce houses to the face painting when they weren't crawling over and under and through Celebration Station, and almost all of them lined up for the Red, White and Blue Parade, kicking off the Fourth of July party.

"We're giving every one of them a red, white or blue balloon and an American flag," said Sylvia Pinson, Parks and Recreation Director.

They lined up, on foot, in wheelchairs, on scooters and bikes, and in one case, even on a tractor.

Clancy Burk, of the Backwoods Hunting Ministry, welcomed the opportunity to spread the word about the young men he works with as well to raise money for their projects.

"They're a great bunch of boys," he said. Backwoods is an outreach ministry that "encourages hunting and fishing instead of drugs and alcohol," said Burk. The ministry has recently teamed up with Phillip Heath's Adventure Video, and they hope to produce their own television show soon.

"These boys love the Lord and the Lord loves them," said Burk.

State Sen. Jim Tracy spoke at the opening, and welcomed everyone to celebrate the birthday of the nation. Tricia Schmiede sang the National Anthem.

Later that evening, while nature put on her own fireworks show further north in Tennessee, cancelling some Fourth fireworks displays, the show here went off as scheduled.

Earlier in the day, the park had featured a ribbon-cutting and the first official tournament at its disc golf course. The recreation center also offered special prices for holiday swimmers, and WLIJ-AM (1580) held a live remote broadcast in honor of its 50 anniversary on the air in 2009.