Published: July 03, 2008 12:01 pm            

Dowsed tradition must launch new light

Independence Day celebrations throughout Princeton just won’t be as bright this year as our past star-spangled parties. By now, we’ve all heard, considered and likely complained about the fact that city and safety officials called off the annual fireworks display from Princeton City Park, the mainstay in many July 4th festivities.

When City Manager Wayne Shumate announced the decision to dowse the holiday tradition in light of reported safety concerns and lack of a suitable location, it didn’t take long for the news to travel.

And, it didn’t take long for a lot of locals to get mad.

By the time the page with Shumate’s letter reached its layout editor, I knew the debate would be on. Walking into the newsroom last Thursday, it was the first question I met.

Though Shumate clearly wrote, “Due to safety and emergency response issues, the current location is not suitable for the event to take place. Additionally, efforts to identify a viable location in the City of Princeton were unsuccessful,” a lot of readers cried foul.

Steadfast in his message, Shumate reported in interview after interview this week that safety and logistical concerns were the ones that will keep Princeton’s sky dark Friday night, but it was still hard to believe.

Sure, we all understand that fireworks and house roofs really should never mix, and that bystanders waiting for the big, beautiful blasts shouldn’t be allowed to block a state highway. We know that the hospital has to remain accessible and that emergency responders must be free to do just that — respond to the unexpected.

But, we loved the fireworks celebration. While many of our friends and family members traveled out of town to vacation or try out new traditions, there were a lot of us who stayed here and looked forward to the annual evening of lounging in lawn chairs by our neighbors on the asphalt of 12th Street Extension and Springhaven Drive parking lots.

We’ve been there in the rain and watched under umbrellas as long as the equipment was dry enough to launch the lovely explosions that made us proud, and we’ve roasted through the revelry when the weather was warm enough to see the heat radiating off the pavement before dusk.

Many of us have been there for years. We’ve watched our families grow and looked forward to experiencing the show with people who know us and our hometown better than anyone else, because their hearts are at home here too.

And, those are the things our disappointment is really about.

Yes, we’ll miss the radiance of the sparkling red explosions and the brilliant blues that immitated shooting stars. We’ll regret that we won’t see the glorious golds and perfect pinks reflected in the eyes of our kids and our neighbors before a backdrop of black night.

But, it’s the experience we’ll really miss more than the view — the shared celebration of our nation, our lifestyle and our corner of the country.

Ultimately, it’s the sense of community we’ll miss the most, and it’s ironic that two Princeton events — a Create West Virginia conference and a Community Connections Study Circle session — explored the options to restore the community in the same week we did away with one of the biggest events that brought us together and told us a little about who we were.

We loved the fireworks display because it was beautiful and fun, but we made it thrive because it was something we saw in ourselves and in our community that we were proud of, that brought people in and welcomed them with a bright greeting in the night. This year, we’ll either forego the celebration, or go to someone else’s town to enjoy one.

It might be fun, but it won’t be the same. It won’t be ours.

And, it’s hard to accept that there was no room for the event that brought out so many in such a positive light due to such logical reasons — all on a holiday that celebrates our most impractical ideal of independence. There’s a part of us that can’t quite grasp how a lack of restroom facilities and parking spaces keeps us from launching fireworks on the holiday that memorializes a decision to defy convention and create a new nation founded on freedom.

But, as confounding as we may find the situation, we also have to realize that the same community we cherished under the glistening fireworks is the same one that still lives in our neighborhoods, and we have the opportunity, maybe even the responsibility, to either find a way to keep old traditions alive or find new ones next year.

If our fabled Founding Fathers found a way to make a new nation, surely we can craft a way to celebrate it our own way.

Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

        

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