7/3/19
The Chatterbox
Betty
Kaiser
Note: This column is being published a little late. Sorry
Tomorrow
is the 4th of July. Are you ready to celebrate? Well, the Colonists
certainly were after signing the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain
in 1776. But first, they had to get hostility out of the way. King George III
bore the brunt of their actions.
Newspapers
of the time describe how the military tore down a statue of the King in the
Bowling Green section of Manhattan and later melted it into bullets. In
Philadelphia, the King’s coat of arms was used as bonfire kindling. The
citizens of Savannah, Georgia, burned the King in effigy and held a mock
funeral to put him away forever.
The
following year, the Virginia Gazette, dated July 5, described a more civilized
celebration: “Armed ships and gallies were drawn up before the city, dressed
with the colours of the U.S and began the celebration by a discharge of 13
cannon from each of them. The day was closed with the ringing of bells and at
night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and ended with 13
rockets on the commons, illuminating the city.”
This
year we will celebrate 243 years of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. In many ways, our celebration hasn’t changed very much. For most of
us, it will be a day off work, family reunions, parades, backyard barbecues and
lots of fireworks.
In 2007,
I wrote a column in which I asked readers to share their childhood memories of July
4th celebrations. The response was not overwhelming. In fact, I only
received two emails. One was from Marcia Allen, now 96 years old, whom I
consider to be the queen of Cottage Grove history.
Marcia has been my
go-to-person for 20 years as a reporter and columnist. She has also been a driving
force, along with many others, to preserve and celebrate the history and
heritage of Cottage Grove’s people and buildings and culture. The Marcia E.
Allen Historical Research Library is named in her honor. Got questions? Stop
and see them @ 308 So. 10th St.Here are Marcia’s childhood recollections of celebrating the 4th of July in the mid-1930s:
“I have several memories of my childhood and how I
celebrated the 4th of July. My folks were always very patriotic, and
displayed a very large flag hung on the clothesline in the big front porch,
where clothes dried in the wind in winter time. Every store downtown had
bunting draped under roofs and windows, businesses were closed for the day.
We began at the Cottage Grove Armory, with a speaker and
a HS student reciting the Gettysburg address. The Civil War Vets
were always proudly in uniform and honored as the oldest group. Seems like
there were still about 8-10 who were able to come. Kelly Field is named
for a hometown boy lost in WWI, and the Calvin Funk Post of the American Legion
is also named for a CG boy lost in
action.
The Armory was built early in the 1930's because Cottage
Grove was noted for its group of National Guardsmen who were crack shots with
their rifles. They needed a place to practice inside so as to be ready for
competition when they reported annually to "Camp Lewis" in Washington
to camp and compete with all others in the Northwest. (see the story of the
Armory in the Golden Was the Past II - page 65).
There was usually a parade because veterans from the
Civil War were still alive and the first World War had been over about ten years,
and patriotic fever was high.
The way I remember CG parades used to be with the High
School Band always involved as well as the CG Band of men - most of whom were
WWI vets and businessmen. The parade led to the bridge, and on to the Fir
Grove cemetery - to honor the dead after the service.
Sometimes our
family went by car over to Siuslaw Falls, down past Lorane to the west and had
a picnic with friends from the Masonic lodge or others from the business
community. A special treat of the day was the food - always watermelon and
fried chicken- not usually enjoyed at other times.
Sometimes Dad drove Mother and I to Florence where his
uncle and aunt and some of their grown children lived. We drove down the twisty
2 lane highway along the Umpqua river to Glenada and boarded a ferry to cross
over to Florence. The big bridge over the bay was not built until 1936, so
travel over any river near the ocean was all done by ferries. The first
rhododendron parade was done on boats along where Old Town Florence is
today.
There were never any children my age to play with, but I
usually had a package or two of firecrackers and a punk to light them and had a
good time in the sand dune behind the house.
One time I lit a firecracker that burned its
fuse and didn't go off. When I picked it up, it did go off and burned my
fingers very painfully. I was about 9 years old and had started
taking piano lessons that constituted an hour's practice every day.
Needless to say, the practice sessions were on hold for about a week!
May we never forget the “good ole days” and what our
country stands for!”
Thank you, Marcia and God bless the U.S.A.!
Contact Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox by
email bchatty@bettykaiser.com
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