Fourth of July celebration draws a crowd
NEW BOSTON, Texas—Before nightfall and the blaze of fireworks sparked overhead, people gathered around the pavilion at Trailhead Park to celebrate the Fourth of July.
They also lined Front Street in their lawn chairs or sat on the tailgates of their pickups so they could get a good view of the colorful show put on to celebrate America’s Independence Day.
But the celebration began long before the fireworks show as people listened to the sounds of Music Country USA, a band that played anything from “Sweet Home Alabama” to country and gospel hits.
“This is great. It is good to have the people come out and support the town,” said Mark Haddock, the keyboard player and owner of Music Country USA Theater, a theater with the same name as the band. “These towns need it as bad as times are at (Red River Army Depot) and probably everywhere else. I love to try and help the community.”
Julie Butler and her husband, Christopher Butler, said they were new to New Boston but wanted to go out for the event because they don’t know that many people yet. They also hoped that their daughter, Ava, 2, would like the fireworks better this year than she did last year.
“I guess maybe this will be the first time she won’t be scared,” Juli Butler said. “She has been talking about it all day long.”
Christopher Butler, who serves in the National Guard in McAlester, Okla., said the Fourth of July makes him think of those who sacrificed so that Americans can be free.
“I just think about all the people who have lost their lives,” he said.
Another group enjoying the festivities were members of the 2013 court of New Boston. Wearing their tiaras with blue Tshirts, the ladies with varying titles sold Dilly Bars and water donated by Dairy Queen to benefit the New Boston Chamber of Commerce. New Boston Teen Miss Alexis May, 15, said she likes the tradition of coming to Trailhead Park each year.
“It is nice to see people you don’t always get to see, and it’s nice to see friends. And the fireworks are amazing to watch each year.”
Near the Dilly Bar table, smoke filled the air along with the smell of meat sizzling on the grill. Members of Boy Scout Troop 36 and their families worked to prepare hamburgers to sell to the crowd, along with chips and drinks.
The money made helps troop members attend a summer camp each year. Mike Hawron, who has three sons who went through the troop and became Eagle Scouts, said he enjoys grilling to help the group and thinks the community enjoys having something good to eat before the fireworks begin.
“I don’t think it would be the same without it,” he said.
Hanna Arayson, 21, was one of several people in the community who decided to bring their four-legged friends to the event. She and Diego, her red-nosed pit bull, didn’t have far to come, either.
“I live right there,” she said, pointing to a nearby white house.
Her friend Kimberly Arendt, 20, who wore a red, white and blue tie with her red shirt and white skirt, said she walked to the plaza from a nearby house, too. She said she has made a lot of memories there on previous Fourth of July events.
“My grandma brought me here when I was little,” she said.