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July 4th Ramblings - S Ebels
Steve Ebels
Member Posts: 904
Just got awakened by the annual 5AM detonation of 4 sticks of dynamite down by the pond here in Falmouth. It's our tradition, going back many more years than I've been around, to do that. It's like this evenings fireworks, just something that you do on the 4th here in Falmouth. 4 sticks a quarter mile from your house will get your attention.
Throughout the years many different people have done the honors of lighting off the charge. It's never been an organized thing. Someone just does it. In the 1960's you could go down to the farmers co-op here and buy it right off the "shelf". (they stored it in a wood frame, steel sided building in back of my grandads woods) You didn't need a permit or a license, just a couple bucks and it was yours. No-one ever blew up anything like public buildings or threw it at police cars. As far as I can recall no-one was ever seriously injured using it. People bought it for blasting stumps, rocks, ponds, waterholes for their cattle, removing pesky beaver dams, celebrations of all sorts. (Some of us around here celebrate friends anniversaries and such occasions, by getting a group together and visiting said friends home at about 1AM, setting off a stick near their house and then inviting ourselves in for lunch/desserts and other goodies we bring along) It's called a chivaree (spelling?) My grandad told me about the time one of his friends got married and when they came home from the honeymoon, were aroused by a charge placed in an apple tree in their front yard. It blew out the front windows of the house and split the apple tree. The responsible parties then bought new windows and replaced them the next day. All in the name of fun and memories.
Then all of a sudden you needed a permit from the sheriff to buy it, which, I suppose wasn't a bad thing. After a few years of that, the law was changed again and you had to go to a place about 40 miles from here to get a pyrotechnician license and then you could buy it. The closest place you can get explosives now is 70 miles away. Due to laws and liability factors.
I talked with the gent that was going to do the honors this year and he said that this would be the last year it would happen. The feds have turned down the screws so tightly after 9/11 that it is impossible now to obtain for any mundane reason. Another "freedom" lost?
I hear people interviewed on the news about some of the delays/restrictions/etc. that have been imposed in the name of safety since 9/11. "Do the new restrictions bother you"? the reporter asks. The reply is invariably "No, I'll glady put up with it for the sake of safety". Or " I'll do anything that helps the government ensure safety. It's worth it" they reply with quaking knees.
I wonder how many more freedoms will disappear in the next 40 years in the name of safety and public good? I wonder if the 4th will still stand for the same thing then. The revolution wasn't the PC thing to do you know. The 4th also might offend some people due to the fact that they don't think they were treated fairly at some point in the nations history and therefore celebrating it is painful to them.
Just things I think about here in Falmouth on this Indepedence Day. Hoping that this country will survive to be a good place for those grandaughters that I adore, and the families they will raise. Hoping that when they are 40 they can take their kids to the celebration/chicken BBQ/singalong/local talent show/hymnsing/fireworks down by the pond on the 4th of July 2040.
Happy Independence day to all from the northwoods.
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Throughout the years many different people have done the honors of lighting off the charge. It's never been an organized thing. Someone just does it. In the 1960's you could go down to the farmers co-op here and buy it right off the "shelf". (they stored it in a wood frame, steel sided building in back of my grandads woods) You didn't need a permit or a license, just a couple bucks and it was yours. No-one ever blew up anything like public buildings or threw it at police cars. As far as I can recall no-one was ever seriously injured using it. People bought it for blasting stumps, rocks, ponds, waterholes for their cattle, removing pesky beaver dams, celebrations of all sorts. (Some of us around here celebrate friends anniversaries and such occasions, by getting a group together and visiting said friends home at about 1AM, setting off a stick near their house and then inviting ourselves in for lunch/desserts and other goodies we bring along) It's called a chivaree (spelling?) My grandad told me about the time one of his friends got married and when they came home from the honeymoon, were aroused by a charge placed in an apple tree in their front yard. It blew out the front windows of the house and split the apple tree. The responsible parties then bought new windows and replaced them the next day. All in the name of fun and memories.
Then all of a sudden you needed a permit from the sheriff to buy it, which, I suppose wasn't a bad thing. After a few years of that, the law was changed again and you had to go to a place about 40 miles from here to get a pyrotechnician license and then you could buy it. The closest place you can get explosives now is 70 miles away. Due to laws and liability factors.
I talked with the gent that was going to do the honors this year and he said that this would be the last year it would happen. The feds have turned down the screws so tightly after 9/11 that it is impossible now to obtain for any mundane reason. Another "freedom" lost?
I hear people interviewed on the news about some of the delays/restrictions/etc. that have been imposed in the name of safety since 9/11. "Do the new restrictions bother you"? the reporter asks. The reply is invariably "No, I'll glady put up with it for the sake of safety". Or " I'll do anything that helps the government ensure safety. It's worth it" they reply with quaking knees.
I wonder how many more freedoms will disappear in the next 40 years in the name of safety and public good? I wonder if the 4th will still stand for the same thing then. The revolution wasn't the PC thing to do you know. The 4th also might offend some people due to the fact that they don't think they were treated fairly at some point in the nations history and therefore celebrating it is painful to them.
Just things I think about here in Falmouth on this Indepedence Day. Hoping that this country will survive to be a good place for those grandaughters that I adore, and the families they will raise. Hoping that when they are 40 they can take their kids to the celebration/chicken BBQ/singalong/local talent show/hymnsing/fireworks down by the pond on the 4th of July 2040.
Happy Independence day to all from the northwoods.
<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=175&Step=30">To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"</A>
0
Comments
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not all is lost
yet we do seem to be losing more. Not all have been blessed to live in a small town, 1,2 or 3 room school houses, letting the air out of the bus tires on holloween, after taking three hours to find it, playing hide and seek with the car lights off in the forest, sledding on the main hiway and having the sheriff haul you back to the top, as many people in the parade as are watching. You know, the good stuff.
Proud to be an Amercian, blessed to be free, givin the priviledge to be such by those who fought for me.
Have a good fourth in whatever town your in!!!
Steve Gates
P.S. we have an old guy who fires off an old cannon, scares our dog and wakes up lots of others.0 -
Happy Independence Day Mark H
No Cannons or Dynamite here. But I had to go on an A/C call this morning and I got to watch the volunteer fireman decorating the trucks.
This IS the greatest country in the world.
Happy 4th All!!!!!0 -
GOD BLESS AMERICA on her 226th Birthday
Happy birthday my dear lady! On this day rememeber to take some time out from the BBQs & parties to honor the greatest country ever to grace Mother Earth. Be sure to honor ALL the Patriots that have laid down their lives to ensure the survival of this Republic. Everyone has their favorite Americans who have kept the faith, and some of mine are: General George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Nathan Hale, John Brown, Betsy Ross & Molly Pitcher, Ethan Allen and The Green Mountain Boys, Mad Anthony Wayne, Sam Houston, Arthur Mac Arthur Sr., John Jay "Black Jack" Pershing, Douglas Mac Arthur-General of The Army, General George S. Patton, Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Creighton Abrams, General William Westmoreland, Colonel Oliver North, General Alexander Haig, Colonel David Hackworth, General Dwight Eisenhower, President Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr, George W Bush, General Joseph Stillwell, Bob Hope, Kate Smith, Charlie Daniels, Jack Daniels, General H. Norman "Stormin' Norman" Swartzkofp, Chesty Puller, Teddy Roosevelt, Don Rumsfeld, Ronald S. Cunsolo, Leo F. Kearns, Joseph Coffey, John Wayne, Richard Milhous Nixon, Charlton Heston, B1 Bob Dornan, Bart Sweeney IV, Army, Navy, Air Force, MARINES, Cops & Fireman, and all their families who sacrifice so much, Flag Wavers and all those who truly love this country and aren't afraid to show it. God Bless all here at the WAll - have a great day. Thanks for affording us this great forum, Dan, - it truly is one-of-a-kind and it is an honor to be a guest. Mad Dog
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