A down-to-earth Fourth of July

Jerry Barney

Published Monday, July 7, 2008

During my years in newspaper work, there are a number of happenings I’ve covered that stand out in my mind as memorable. One of them was a nitty-gritty but special Fourth of July celebration three decades ago.

It was in 1975 and I was editor of the Steuben Courier-Advocate in Bath, N.Y. In that part of Upstate New York, folks celebrate patriotic holidays with real gusto. And there are many celebrations all over, even in little-bitty places.

On this particular holiday, there were so many Fourth of July events going on, I couldn’t cover them all. However, I worked out a plan of attack that enabled me to get to many of them.

One of them took place in the tiny village (less than 100 people) of Howard, N.Y. The folks in Howard were celebrating the installation of a flagpole donated by a local Grange. (There are a lot of Granges in New York state.)

Howard didn’t have a park, and probably still doesn’t. The flagpole was installed in a small patch of grass between three criss-crossing roads. The entire program took place on that patch of grass, barely big enough to accommodate a half-dozen people. Spectators and others waiting to do their parts were across the roads on various lawns and boulevards.

Kids took turns doing patriotic readings in fumbling voices. Transitional music was provided by a piano that was rolled out on the porch of one of the closest houses.

After the readings, a kid on a horse rode up to the flagpole and announced the Declaration of Independence had been signed and the United States was an independent nation.

Everybody clapped, and then put their hands over their hearts while the porch pianist played “The Star Spangled Banner.” Then, a flag was raised for the first time on the new pole.

And that was it. It was over in about 30 minutes.

There was certainly nothing slick, sophisticated or polished about it. Rather, it was rough-hewn, yes, and sort of corny.

But it was one of the most striking Fourth of July programs I’ve ever attended. All the lack of slickness and pretension seemed very appropriate to celebrate the birthday of a nation that started out as a thrown-together collection of immigrants and frontiersmen who lived in rough-hewn circumstances.

So many celebrations are so carefully put together and rehearsed so that they lose the spontaneity of things But that was certainly not true of Howard’s 1975 flagpole celebration. To me, it captured the real spirit of this nation’s beginnings.

My day was carefully planned, and I had to leave quickly after it was over. I had more places to go and more things to do.

But as I drove away, there were tears of emotion in my eyes. I had just witnessed something great.. I hope everybody had a happy happy Fourth of July, everybody, and a belated happy birthday, United States.

Jerry Barney is a Fergus Falls resident. He is a former Otter Tail County newspaper editor.