July 4th memories. Please share.

[WILCO]

The nanny state was crying on the evils of the sparkler this morning on the radio and I was reminded of the time when I was a boy and we'd go out to my uncles farm on the 4th of July. Before my uncle started his fireworks display, all of us children would be given a sparkler to run around with in the dark! We knew that thing was red hot and nobody wanted to get burned. It was great fun to write in the air and make a light trail.
Heck, we even through them up and watched as they'd land in the cool grass. Knowing to pick them up at the right end. The best was when you were given two at the same time!

What are some of your July 4th memories?

[Trey45]

Going to the beach with aunts, uncles, cousins and other family and friends. Cooking out on the beach! Try that now and you're going to jail. Sparklers, catching fireflies, watching fireworks, falling asleep in the backseat of dads car on the long drive home.

[popper]

Holding on to a Black Cat too long.

[WILCO]

Holding on to a Black Cat too long.

Did that with a Lady Finger. Spread my thumb and index pointer wide and straight to numbsville.
Same uncle yelled at me saying "See! I told ya so!" and that was the last time I did that.

[Sensai]

Went from Virginia during a heat wave to New Rockford North Dakota during a "cool spell" to celebrate the fourth one year. I dang near froze to death!! Thank goodness those ND folks have lots of antifreeze, and know how to use it. They know how to do cookouts and fireworks displays too.

[buckwheatpaul]

While I am not happy where this country is going....I pray daily for a change in the heart of those Fed. Govt Senators and House Members. I pray that common sense and doing what our Founding Fathers intended prevails.... instead of serving their own self interest and feeding their hidden agenda....God Bless America and the Great State of Texas!

[elkhuntfever]

In the most recent years, my family will get together at The Pond. My sisters house in Mt Pleasant Michigan, which is about 2 miles from the Soaring Eagle casino. We set off our own fireworks but we can hear those at the casino and it sounds like a war over there!!
I come from large family (12 brothers and sisters) which is spread out from Alaska to Florida, Maine to California. 4th of July weekend is reunion time.

[rockrat]

At Grandads farm, shooting off fireworks and other stuff.

Remember a 4th here, shooting off stuff and it getting cold just before sundown, then white flakes falling. Next year it was 100+.

[Janoosh]

In or around Coventry, Conn. Going to the local VFW clambake......hot dogs, great corn, clams, running around like crazy with the rest of the guys, first time i ever ate a raw clam, fireworks,........ i was somewhere around 9.

[waksupi]

Sparklers make dandy bombs. Bundle them up, with one reversed for a fuse. Tape them tight with electrical or duct tape. Light the "fuse", and get away! My neighbor kids set them off this time of year. They are a half mile away, and it still rattles my windows.

[daniel lawecki]

Shooting off fireworks with Grandkids cooking out with friends going shooting. But this 4th will be spl were taking out a Colt saa in 45 1876 this is the real deal. The grandkids will tell their friends when school starts about everything we done the whole summer.

[Springfield]

My grandfather taught me if you hold the firecracker by the very end with your nails it won't hurt you..much! Wasn't brave enough to do it until I was 10. My father just laughed when I said my fingers were a bit numb, and told me his father was crazy. His memories of the 4th were his father getting all bloody after lighting all the fireworks, he did some crazy, stupid stuff. Me, when I was little we used to light all kinds of fireworks off in our driveway, loved to run around with sparklers, till they made it all illegal. Used to blow up model cars with firecrackers, that was always fun! My kids have never even seen a firecracker.

[shooter2]

I guess I am a bit older. We had sparklers, but also black cats, hammer heads, cherry bombs and M80's. To the best of my knowledge no one was ever injured. Great memories!

[km101]

I guess I am a bit older. We had sparklers, but also black cats, hammer heads, cherry bombs and M80's. To the best of my knowledge no one was ever injured. Great memories!

Yep, we had cherry bombs and M80's too! I still had a couple of M80's until a couple of years ago, when I set them off to show my grandkids what "real" firecrackers were! LOL

My favorite memory of the 4th was: my dad taking me to see my first professional baseball game on the 4th when I was 6 years old. That started my love of the game!

[41 mag fan]

My memory of the 4th is/was doing everything that the general pansy public thinks is so so so horribly wrong now.

[elk hunter]

My maternal grandmother loved picnics. One forth-of-July in the early 50's we drove up the local river to a place called "Meadow Camp". While my Grandmother, mother and my aunts were getting everything ready, it clouded up and started to snow. That didn't mean we were going home, no way! we were there and grandma was going to have her picnic. I can't drive past the turn off to "Meadow Camp" without thinking about my Grandmother and her forth-of-July picnic all those years ago.

[27judge]

The morning of the 4th of July 1959 I came home from a 2 year tour of duty in North Africa on a 30 day leave U S Navy. Wow that's a long time ago tks KEN

[Idaho Mule]

Our whole family would gather at the ranch on Jenkin's Creek, Weiser, Idaho. Big cook- out and picnic.Lots of fireworks but we had to light them in adult approved places as things were pretty dry. We never burned the place down but we sure blew alot of stuff up. My dad and uncles would always go up the creek in the evening to our upper orchard and return with a few fresh mule deer to hang in the cooler. Just the way life was back then. These days we are all gathered at my place, the little ranch near Viola, Idaho. My brothers, sisters, cousins, a whole herd of kids of all ages. We will enjoy a feast of pulled pork later today, some fire works, some shooting and visiting with each other. It's good to see them all.
God Bless America. JW

[Dale in Louisiana]

1976 - Baumholder, Germany: Our armor battalion was in the middle of the gunnery phase of the annual training cycle. We took a break from slinging twenty-six pound projectiles at 3850 FPS to go sit with families for an Independence Day celebration. The Army had fireworks, but they didn't stir nearly as much adrenaline as popping the cap on a high velocity 105.

dale in Louisiana

[WILCO]

Great replies! Keep them coming!