Full disclosure: I am not a big fireworks fan.
Not even on the Fourth of July.
Not because I’m unpatriotic. I’m just unfireworks.
The big bang does nothing for me. Giant, cascading ribbons of spiraling, flaming colors?
Yawn!
A thunderous cacophony of booming boomers booming high and deep into the night with boomerific bombasity?
How about if I go pull the car around?
Flaming, shrieking missiles rocketing skyward and igniting into exploding fireballs that rattle large buildings and illuminate 38 states and half of Canada?
Hey, I’m going to the concession stand. You want anything?
Call me a party pooper. A deadbeat. A bump on the log. But fireworks are everything I’m not. Loud. Showy. Dangerous.
Maybe that’s why I’ve never been a big fan. For my money, if you’ve seen one ka-boom, you’ve seen ‘em all.
Unfortunately for me, I live in a metropolitan area in which fireworks are not just enjoyed by the masses. They are worshiped.
You want to draw a crowd in Cleveland? Shoot off some fireworks.
You want to draw an even bigger crowd? Announce beforehand you intend to shoot off some fireworks, and then shoot them off.
You want to draw the biggest crowd? Announce beforehand you intend to shoot off some fireworks, and you intend to keep shooting them off until they become so loud people’s brains will start squirting out of their ears.
Then you’ve got yourself a party.
Cleveland sports fans are so maniacal about their love of fireworks that the Cavaliers found a way to shoot them off indoors.
I’m no fire marshal, but is that even legal?
The Browns have been known to lob celebratory explosives into the air on occasion and to call it a show. But no Cleveland sports team does the big bang with a bigger bang than the Indians.
Fireworks and baseball are made for each other.
Baseball, of course, is the only sport that publicly admits it’s boring – “and now everybody, let’s get up and stretch!” – so maybe the fireworks are baseball’s way of saying, “We may have put you to sleep so far, but wait until you get a load of this.”
The Indians’ fireworks shows have, through the years, evolved from sporadic shows on selected holidays to regularly scheduled and promoted shows following every Friday night home game.
The first fireworks show after a major-league game is believed to have taken place after the very first major-league night game – at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field on May 24, 1935.
The promotion never really caught on in the sport until the 1960s. For a time during that decade, after every Friday night home game the Indians would have a fireworks show and they would give away a car.
Bill Veeck, perhaps the sport’s most energetic and creative showman, had fireworks shows at Comiskey Park following White Sox games. Many other teams would have periodic fireworks shows during the baseball season, usually pegged to certain holidays, the Fourth of July being the most common and obvious one.
It didn’t take long for the teams to realize, particularly the team in Cleveland, that the crowds on the fireworks nights tended to be bigger than on non-fireworks nights.
The San Diego Padres once did a study that examined 50 factors that impacted attendance at major-league games, and the conclusion was the biggest factor of all was fireworks.
Fireworks not only typically attract larger crowds to baseball games, but they keep them there. Since the fireworks shows come after the games, the fans are less likely to leave before the end of the game. Keeping them at the game, obviously, also increases the chances of them buying more food and souvenirs while they are there.
The Indians have done studies on how much the fireworks shows increase attendance, and, not surprisingly, it’s a significant increase.
Last year, for example, the Indians had 13 fireworks nights, and the average attendance on those nights was 27,968. The average attendance on non-fireworks nights was 20,784. That’s an average increase of 7,184 on big-bang nights over non-big-bang nights.
The people have spoken, and what they have told the Indians is the noisier the home games, the better. They like their fireworks in Cleveland, OK?
Although those particular nights are promoted as having “postgame fireworks,” I’ve always thought, given Cleveland’s insatiable appetite for them, a more accurate labeling would be to call the event a “pre-fireworks game.”
Because on those nights the star of the show isn’t baseball. The star of the show is pyrotechnics, which for a bad baseball team is the ultimate diversionary tactic.
You don’t like the team? Fine. Come see the boom-booms.
You’re not a big fan of the game of baseball? No problem. We’ve got man-made explosions coming up after the game. Stick around.
I guess what we’ve learned through the evolution of fireworks in this country, and particularly in this city, is noise sells.
Even when baseball doesn’t.
JIngraham@News-Herald.com

Barb Henderson of Painesville has extended her lead in The News-Herald’s Lighten Up in 2010.
Henderson lost 9.6 pounds between weigh-ins on June 5 and June 26, moving to a total 68.6 pounds lost in the first five months of the six-month contest.
Henderson has lost 26.3 percent of her body weight and now weighs 192.2  pounds. In second place is Bob Kaseda of Kirtland. He has lost 71.2 total pounds, or 23.4 percent of his body weight. Kaseda lost 4.6 pounds in the three-week period to move to 323.6 pounds.
Stepping off the scale, Henderson said it’s the first time she’s been below 200 pounds in many years.
In third place is Diane Hart of Thompson Township, who has lost 48 pounds. She lost 4.2 pounds last month to reach 186.6 pounds. She’s lost 20.5 percent of her weight.
After five weigh-ins, the 12 remaining contestants have lost a total of 421.5 pounds.
Two of the original contestants, Jonathan Adkins of Painesville Township and Jessica Forsythe of Wickliffe, have been removed for failure to complete required aspects of the contest.
Contestants have one final weigh-in on July 31. The winner will be declared in the Aug. 8 edition of The News-Herald.
This year’s winner will receive a month of personal training sessions and meetings with a nutritionist at Slim & Fit Personal Weight Loss and Fitness, valued at $600; a one-hour massage at Hands On Physical Therapy in Mentor, valued at $100; and a $450 teeth whitening package from Drs. Thomas Appelfeller and Melissa Severino-Hoza in Madison.
The second-place winner will receive a six-month membership to the Lake County YMCA. Third place gets a $400 gift certificate to Physicians Weight Loss Centers in Mentor and a $100 gift certificate to Danny’s Organic Marketplace in Mentor.

As the contestants in The News-Herald’s “Lighten Up in 2010” gear up for their final weigh-in on July 31, area fitness and weight-loss experts share their advice on how to avoid a backslide as they move forward  and their public dieting experience ends.
Look for the results of the last weigh-in on Aug. 8 when the winner of the six-month weight-loss contest will be announced.

The Real Trick: Making It Permanent
Dr. Barbara Berkeley,
Author, “Refuse to Regain: 12 Tough Rules to Maintain the Body You’ve Earned”
For 20 years now I’ve been helping people lose weight.  I’ve also had the unhappy experience of watching many successful dieters gain it all back….and then some.
Americans are actually very good at weight loss. They lose endless numbers of pounds yearly. But they are not skilled at maintaining the new size they achieve. Unfortunately, most books and diet articles continue to focus on losing rather than on how to get a handle on the permanent changes that must follow.
I‘ve worked with scores of successful maintainers and have had the chance to meet many more through the maintenance blog I write on the Internet. I have also learned a good deal by maintaining my own 20-pound weight loss for the past seven years. It’s a big topic, but if I had to sum it all up, these would be my top suggestions for avoiding regain:
Your weight loss diet must be the diet you continue to follow: Unless you’ve lost weight in some unhealthy way, the diet that allowed you to reduce successfully should be the one you continue, perhaps with some minor changes to add a few more calories.  Most dieters don’t realize that their new, smaller bodies will need far fewer calories to run than their heavier bodies did.  Returning to “moderate” forms of their original eating style almost always leads to disaster
Follow an “Eating Manifesto”: Before reaching maintenance, you should have a good idea of your beliefs about a healthy diet. In order to succeed permanently, you must have a true plan for eating and believe in it  wholeheartedly. This is your Eating Manifesto, the rules of which will guide your eating choices. The eating style I recommend to patients is what I call a Primarian Diet. This is a diet that consists 90 percent of the time of foods that could have been eaten by our most ancient ancestors, including lean meats, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables, eggs, fruits, nuts and berries. If you tolerate milk, you might also include low fat dairy products. Avoid or severely minimize grains, cereals, starchy foods (like potatoes, pasta and bread) and foods with sugars or other sweeteners. These “S” foods (starches and sugars) were unknown to our ancestors.
As a result, we don’t have the genetic equipment to deal with them over a lifetime.  In short, these foods lead to modern diseases like obesity, diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Do not make exceptions: Common to almost all successful maintainers is the fact that they rarely stray from their Eating Manifestos. This is not so strange if you think about it. Vegetarians don’t eat pork chops just because they happen to be on the table, for example. They believe in the way they eat, so they stick to it. Similarly, maintainers with well-planned Eating Manifestos don’t depart from them just because there is a wedding, vacation, birthday or restaurant meal.  This is very important. Keeping consistent allows maintainers to build habits. Once habits are formed, the desire to eat as most Americans do is greatly reduced.
Exercise as hard as you can on as many days as you can: Many studies show that exercise may not hasten weight loss as much as we’d like to think. On the other hand, exercise seems to be vital for weight maintenance. Do as much as your body will safely allow. If you are limited, look into chair exercise, yoga, water based exercise or walking.
Remember that weight loss is not really about losing pounds. It is really about losing a part of you that is unhealthy and revealing a new, purer body. Do everything you can to support that new structure. This  includes eating whole, organic foods, and providing yourself plenty of physical activity, sleep and relaxation.  Seek joy in your new body and you will never want to return to the old one.
Berkeley has a blog at www.refusetoregain.com

Friends who exercise together, stay together
Beth Horvath
Wellness director, Lake County YMCA Central Branch
One of the biggest challenges we face when incorporating an exercise routine in our busy lives is sticking with it. On average, half the people who begin an exercise program drop out within six months.
However, adherence improves if there is a social connection during exercise.
Studies have proven that people prefer to exercise with others in lieu of going at it alone.
There are benefits associated with exercising with a loved one or friend. It can enhance exercise commitment, motivation, self-confidence and enjoyment. If you know your friend is relying on you to meet them somewhere to exercise, you not only won’t want to let them down by not showing up, but you might even look forward to your workout.
Also, exercise partners will model positive health-minded attitudes and behaviors for one another.
Social interaction can provide distraction from physical exertion, while also making time seem to go by faster. You’ll probably find that you can walk longer, bike farther or work harder when accompanied by a friend. You might even enjoy exercising!
Working out with others provides opportunities to develop friendships. In fact, some people might even say that the social interactions they have during exercise are just as important (or more important) than the exercise itself!
The Y is especially good at fostering relationships with their members. We’ve learned over the last 175 years that relationships are paramount to our success as a health and wellness organization. In fact, fitness takes a backseat to relationships. Not that we are not a premier health and wellness organization. The Lake County YMCA is known nationally as a very successful Y. We pride ourselves on our programming and state-of-the-art equipment, but what keeps people coming here is they feel welcome and happy while they are here. We are a relationship-driven membership organization. That makes our new members more likely to keep up their exercise routines.
So, I invite you to come to the Y and see for yourself. And bring a friend.

Words to live by
Jaime Brenkus
Owner, Slim & Fit Personal Weight Loss and Fitness, Concord Township
Anyone who has been around Slim & Fit knows that sometimes I sneak in little phrases that express the situation at hand for our clients.
I truly believe that you can meld together a complete program with the following phrases that will keep you motivated and on track to succeed in any health, fitness and weight loss program.
•Success in life is not a matter of inches or pounds — success is when you start taking steps towards a reachable goal.  Don’t be so preoccupied with those three numbers on the scale. When you start any fitness program that includes resistance training (a good thing) your body’s composition changes. You’re losing body fat, while gaining muscle tissue. However, the scale might not reflect a drop because muscle is more dense and takes up less space. Think of your long term goal of being fit, healthy and strong!
•Your fork and spoon are your best pieces of fitness equipment. Yes, we can do some damage with those two little utensils. Although I advocate exercise on a regular basis, your program will succeed or not succeed based on your calorie intake. For instance, a tablespoon of salad dressing is 120 calories. If you go out to a restaurant and pour one of those little cups over your salad (yes, we’re all guilty of that) it’s a whopping  500 calories — which would take you 90 minutes to burn off on a treadmill.  Remember, it’s calories in versus calories out. I would rather have you not take in as many calories — so you don’t have to burn them off.
•He who has no time for his health today will have no health for his time tomorrow. You need to make you a priority.  We all live hurried, hectic lifestyles, and the one thing that gets pushed aside is physical activity. We can think of a thousand  things to do rather than go out and exercise.  It comes down to the lack of TIME. Well, the good news is that the American College of Sports Medicine tells us that exercise is accumulative, it all adds up. A little here, a little there… Try to get in at least three 10 minute intervals daily, or on most days during the week.
•A slip is not a fall and a stumble is not a tumble. Let’s face it , there are going to be days when you’re not going to have a chance to be as healthy as you want. You have to give yourself a break and just say “So What.”  It’s just one meal or one day. In the long run it really doesn’t make a difference (from a pure calorie count, 3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat).  Just pick up your healthy lifestyle the next meal or the next day.  We have a tendency to beat ourselves up. This is what we call a “diet” mentality. Deprivation is a sure way for failure.
Allow yourself a little break now and then. Think of your healthy attitude towards food and fitness for the long haul and you’ll ensure your success!
Good Luck.  Bon appetit!

Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com Lorrie Drewniak, center, talks via Skype with author Kathleen George about her latest book “Fallen” during Mentor Public Library’s Profilers Book Club. Also shown is Joyce Peoples, left, and Grace Sims, right, who works in adult services at Mentor Public Library.

Turning to new technology
Video conferencing is just one way local libraries are embracing new technology.
They have e-readers and use video games in their children’s programming. Hundreds of thousands of people visit them to use their computers. Many of them circulate movies more than books.
Libraries are changing. They are using new technology and old technology in new ways. They will always be associated with books, but now loaning them is just one facet of what they do.
Underlying these changes are two questions: What do people want from libraries and how should libraries remain relevant?
Euclid Public Library is changing its website’s interface. The new one will offer more Google-like features, Director Donna Perdzock said.
“For example, a patron may make lists of what he/she has checked out, find reviews of books and movies, generate a personal list of what is currently checked out and many more services,” she said.
The library has taken more than 70 years of archives from the recently closed Euclid Sun Journal that it had on microform and digitized it. Matthew Augustine, Euclid library’s technology manager, said the archives will eventually be posted on the library’s website for visitors to search.
The library also has oral histories from former mayors and other residents already available on its website. Augustine hopes to digitally archive 80 years of yearbooks from Euclid High School next.
“That seems to be the direction we’re going. We’re putting things on our website that you can’t get anywhere else,” Perdzock said.
Todd Smola didn’t visit Mentor Public Library specifically to check out the iPad.
He visited because he needed to borrow some college prep books and his son is part of a summer reading program.
But he figured, while he was there, he might as well check out the latest tech item.
“This is pretty slick,” he said, as he pulled up the Netflix application. “I’m in (information technology,) and this is the first time I’ve used one.”
The Mentor library has two iPads and six Nooks, the e-reader from Barnes & Noble. Visitors can borrow the Nooks, but not the iPads.
Both have been a hit with patrons, Hawkins said.
“We’ve had a tremendous reaction to the Nooks. We have multiple holds on all of them,” she said. “We’re working with Barnes & Noble. They’re telling people who come to look at them that Mentor Public Library has Nooks they can borrow and try out before they buy.”
E-readers are not common at libraries. Many offer e-books either through their own websites or CLEVNET, a consortium of libraries in Northeast Ohio that share material. But they do not provide or allow patrons to borrow readers.
However, that may become more common as libraries address issues of space in the long term.
“We’re excited about the whole idea of being able to deliver information in a new way, as well as the fact it takes up less shelf space for us,” Hawkins said.
Geauga County Public Library also has access to the State Library of Ohio’s shared project for downloading books to read on devices and PCs. Patrons can also download audio books onto computers, mp3 players, iPods and CDs, Director Deborah O’Connor said.
“This project is through the company, OverDrive, and features a number of libraries throughout the state that each spend a relatively small amount — one half of one percent of our annual materials budgets — and share access to the item with anyone who has a library card from any participating library,” she said.

Paying the cost
All these gadgets and programs come with a catch: They are expensive.
“The unusual thing about technology is that it costs so much in comparison with our more typical service of providing print material,” Perdzock said. “One thousand dollars in the technology budget doesn’t go as far as $1,000 in the print materials budget. “
O’Connor said technology is a very expensive service to offer to Geauga County library patrons because it includes equipment, trained staff, software for more than 200 computers and telecommunications expenses.
“Our financial situation is so tight now that we are building some of our own computers,” she said. “It is the intention of the library board to establish a separate fund for technology because replacing and updating equipment and software is a very expensive proposition. This will be done when our financial situation improves. In the meantime, we are nursing along our equipment as best we can.”
Nancy Currie, director of Madison Public Library, said libraries try to limit technology expenses through cooperation with neighboring libraries as well as the region.
“Some costs are contained through cooperative and collaborative efforts with other libraries,” she said. “As a part of the CLEVNET library consortium, we and 30 other libraries across Northeast Ohio see a 6-to-1 return for every dollar invested in online services and network support.”
Currie said, even with those measures, her library spends more than $90,000 a year for licenses, hardware and computer support. She said that without the cooperation of other libraries, those costs could double.
When asked how expensive it is to keep up with current technology, Mary Frances Burns, director of Morley Library, said, “Very. But Morley Library serves people in various economic strata; and, for some, this is the only place some of them have computer access or can see a movie.”
Many directors said they have several visitors who can no longer afford to have Internet service at home, so they go to the library instead.
“We have daily users,” Perdzock said. “We have them waiting to come in when we open at 10 a.m. They go directly to the work stations and sign up for them.”
In Mentor, the need has reached such an extent that the library board voted to extend the hours they are open on Sunday from four to six.
“Because we’re the only library in Lake County, besides Wickliffe, that’s open (on Sunday) this summer, our patrons are experiencing a 90-minute wait for computers.”
Kirtland Public Library not only offers personalized one-on-one computer classes to the public, it also uses Google Analytics to gather data on the number of times the website is accessed and what browsers are being used to access the website, Director Jane Carle said.
“We had had successful programs on computer security and maintenance,” she said. “Our biggest challenge is keeping all the public access computers running optimally with current upgrades.”

Different technology, different demographics
Technology appeals to a wide variety of age groups. However, one niche that targets youths in particular is gaming systems.
Wicklife Public Library has incorporated a newer gaming program for children that uses the library’s Nintendo Wii and Xbox gaming systems, which has really taken off, Director Nancy Fisher said.
Like Wickliffe, Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library also has several video game programs each year, including Nintendo DS game nights for kids and Playstation and Wii game days for teens,” Williams said.
Video games also have been tied into the circulation at Kirtland Public Library, which is part of the CLEVNET consortium, too.
“We offer Wii, Playstation and Xbox games for circulation. We use Dance Dance Revolution with our teens,” Carle said.
It’s not just libraries that are changing. Library users are changing, also.
“Public libraries are finding, in general, the demand for our services is shifting to a certain extent. A lot of people need to use us for technology,” Hawkins said.
Some of the people who visit libraries want to play with new technology. Some want to compete in the Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution tournaments that Madison and Fairport Harbor libraries host, respectively. Some want to watch the movies that Morley Library screens at least four times a month.
Like many libraries, Wickliffe is on Twitter and a part of CLEVNET, Fisher said.
“We also have a video phone for the hearing impaired, but we also let the public use it to talk to friends and relatives,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
For many Geauga County Public Library patrons, the simple things are the most loved.
“Our patrons really like subscribing to the outside program called Library Elf,” O’Connor said. “This service enables library users to enter their library card information for all participating libraries and set up e-mail and cell phone alerts to let them know if they have items that are due soon, if an item they have placed on reserve is now available and if they (and their children) have overdue materials.”
Libraries are trying to use technology to accommodate as many of their patrons’ wants as possible, which is as it should be, Hawkins said.
“Shame on us if we don’t anticipate our patrons’ needs,” she said.

Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com Wendy Kokish, left, and her mother Darlene Tupts sing happy birthday via webcast to Kokish’s daughter Nicole Kokish, 17, at Walker Funeral Home in Geneva. Families can stop in and record messages for any occasion from funerals to birthdays or to send a message to loved ones serving overseas.

Only a few years ago, Ann Randall’s relatives in Alaska, California, Oklahoma and Colorado would not have seen her father’s memorial service in June.
However, her aunt and and niece did not miss James Randall’s service at Breckenridge Village in Willoughby thanks to webcasting.
The Internet tool has now emerged as a popular and often simple way to connect families during a difficult time.
“This is good 21st century technology. This is a good thing,”  Ann Randall said a few days after her father’s memorial service. “We just thought it was a real gift to be able to do it.”
Davis-Babcock Funeral Home in Willoughby is one of a handful of funeral homes in the Northeast Ohio area that started using webcasting to transmit footage of funerals to family members via a video camera, laptop computer and an Internet connection.
“Not everyone is gung-ho on it, but in this family there’s people in Alaska, out of state,” said owner Mitch Babcock, owner of Davis-Babcock Funeral Home, which has done at least six webcasts of funerals in the past year.
“It’s just another way to connect families, especially today with folks scattered (across the country).”
Babcock found out about webcasting for funerals through a funeral homes convention and started using Event by Wire, a California business that supplies webcasting tools for funeral homes and churches.
Babcock can transmit live images of the funeral simply by taping the service and uploading that video to Event by Wire, which will send an e-mail to the user. With a password in hand, family members can then watch the live funeral.
Cora Walker, owner of Walker Funeral Home in Geneva, has done about 30 funeral webcasts in the past two years. Aside from funerals, Walker Funeral Home also provides the service for church and wedding events and includes a DVD copy of the event.
“Families go through a lot of emotional trauma at the time when their loved one has passed away,” Walker said. “Months later, families can’t recall everything that took place at the funeral — the event is a little foggy.”
Ann Randall of South Euclid checked out a recording of the webcast, which is typically available for 90 days after the live event.
“You just can’t take it all in the first time. There’s too much to process,” said Randall, who remarked that the music was especially moving.
“I thought this was cool (that) we had a record of it.”
In addition to funeral webcasts, Walker decided to bring the technology to the families of overseas soldiers.
On Memorial Day, Walker Funeral Home allowed the families of overseas soldiers to tape messages of support and send them to that soldier.
“With this, we can actually do live broadcasts from the funeral home. At the same time, the person in Iraq, Afghanistan — if they have e-mail or a laptop — they can actually physically watch the funeral service exactly when it’s taking place.”
In preparation for the July Fourth holiday, Walker Funeral Home had another webcast for families of overseas troops and other families just wanting to say “Hi” to distant loved ones.
On Thursday, Wendy Kokish and her mother, Darlene Tupts, both of Geneva, spent an afternoon at the funeral home to record a message for Kokish’s 17-year-old daughter Nicole, who was in Aurora.
“Happy birthday,” Kokish and Tupts said in unison.
“I think people should do it,” Kokish said about the webcasting.
“I liked that my daughter will see us because we won’t see her for her birthday.”
Travel time and costs are a big hindrance in preventing family members from attending funerals, especially when they are across the country, said Joan Billman, president of the Tri-County Funeral Directors Association, which includes funeral homes in Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties.
“I think it’s just a case it’s in its infancy and it hasn’t progressed,” said Billman, about funeral webcasting, “but I can see its value in the future.”
Walker said she thinks funeral webcasting will become more popular as families become spread out geographically.
“First, a funeral is for the living. Funerals bring family and friends together to share memories and to support each other during this difficult time,” Walker said. “Webcasting lets them feel that they are also participating in the event. It is a time of connection — they don’t feel left out.”

Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com T.J. James, 3, of Chardon decorates his bike as grandmother Marilyn Locher, left, and mother Linda James stand by for moral support and to lend a helping hand. T.J. was preparing to take part in the Old Glory Parade Saturday on Chardon Square.

Donning a crown of stars while mounting a bike decked out in blazing red, white and blue decor, Theodore Jons eagerly waited for the go-ahead.
The self-proclaimed 6-and-three-quarter-year-old Chardon resident was one of several dozen kids decorating and riding their bikes in the Old Glory Day parade Saturday afternoon on Chardon Square.
“I came up with the idea of the pinwheel,” Theodore said, pointing to the patriotic pinwheel fixed between his handle bars and spinning it for effect.
Sitting on a crepe-paper-clad bike near Theodore, Aiden Kilmer of Munson Township fidgeted in his helmet, excited to ride this year without training wheels.
“Wait ‘til you see how fast I’m gonna go,” the 4-year-old said.
Aiden’s mother, Melanie, has been bringing her children to the parade for several years.
“They love it,” she said. “They get really excited. This year, (Aiden) doesn’t have training wheels so he’s extra excited.”
For some families, this year marked their first time experiencing the day’s event, which also included a concert in the park, pony rides, ice cream and hot dogs, children’s lawn games and pie-eating contest, balloons and a miniature golf challenge.
“I didn’t expect this many people. It’s very cool,” said Linda James of Chardon, who helped her 3-year-old son, T.J., decorate his bike.
“I figured there’d be a handful of kids, but there’s a few hundred people here. I can’t believe it … so we’re going to make this our tradition.”
While many parade participants were kids on bikes, in strollers or wagons, some adults, like Barbara Lang of Hambden Township, jumped on the opportunity to celebrate the Fourth of July by circling the square while showing her patriotism.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done it. All of our family lives in Canton … but this year we couldn’t visit them,” said Lang, who pushed a dolly with a sign on it stating: “Freedom isn’t free, thanks to all who have gone before us.”
“We weren’t going to do anything. I got a flier in the mail about this … and we said, let’s go celebrate,” she said. “It’s a beautiful day.”
Inspiration for her sign came from her family’s expansive military background, Lang said.
“Any time we’ve done a parade event, this is sort of our family slogan,” she added.
The parade, which hit its seventh year Saturday, is organized by the Chardon Square Association, the Chardon Chamber of Commerce and the city, said Mariann Goodwin, who, along with Assistant City Manager Randy Sharpe, coordinated the event.
“We just wanted (the event) to be something child-friendly and focusing on a family day,” Goodwin said.
“It’s nothing fancy, we provide the decorations … the fire department and police department got involved, the city provides the music entertainment.”
At least as many, if not more people showed up this year, Goodwin said, adding fireworks at the high school later that night top off the day.
She added, “People love to come to Chardon because of the old fashion feel and family-friendly atmosphere.”