By the time this article comes out, it will be late, in that the Fourth of July will have come and gone.

But, on the other hand, the Fourth of July celebrations are not intended to be just one-day observances to be quickly forgotten and if they make some difference in the general appreciations and attitudes of all of us, then their meaning will continue beyond the day itself, reaching across the years.

I have always thoroughly enjoyed fourth of July celebrations, both of the family picnic variety and of the public program variety. I like to see the nation’s flag flying, and the Fourth of July is always one of the big days for that. For a number of years I have been a member of a Lions Club in Rogers which offered a flag service to the local businesses and individuals. We would put up flags at the businesses in the morning of the holiday, and take them in at the evening time. Manypeople on our street in Pea Ridge subscribe now to the Optimist Club’s flag service, so I’m looking forward to the sight of the flags flying in this part of town on the Fourth.

I’ve also appreciated the music that I have associated with Fourth of July observances. It seems like a right time to hear the National Anthem and to sing “God Bless America,” and “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” and “My Country ’Tis of Thee.”

I well remember, too, when I was a boy, as today, setting off the fireworks was part of celebrating the Fourth. I don’t remember that Pea Ridge ever had a community fireworks event like they have today. We would go to Lake Atalanta in Rogers for the “big” fireworks display.

We also enjoyed getting a few firecrackers and other things to set off at home or at somebody’s house. Fireworks back in the ’40s and ’50s were pretty expensive, and most of us didn’t have money to buy a big supply of things. But we usually were able to get a fair-sized pack of firecrackers, a few sparklers, two or three Roman Candles, maybe a rocket or two. I never got the cherry bombs, but some pretty powerful ones were available back then. I remember a few items that don’t seem to be available now, possibly because they tended to be involved in accidents. I’m thinking ofa thing I can’t remember the name of. When you lit the fuse, it started shooting fire from the fuse hole, and made the item whirl and helicopter high up into the air, and then explode like a big firecracker. It may havebeen called a buzz bomb - I can’t remember.

I kind of got in trouble out at home on one Fourth.

My grandmother was ill at the time, but was at our house visiting with us, the California cousins and others. We kids had been told not to set off firecrackers while Grandma was there because she was too frail to deal with it. We got the notion that if we went off up into the road, away from the house, it wouldn’t hurt to set off a few firecrackers. Well, we didn’t get a whipping over it, but we all got a very impressive talking to from our uncle, who drilled in the point that being told not to do something actually meant that we do notdo it.

Someone once asked, “Do they have a Fourth of July in England?” Well, I guess they have the calendar date there, but no doubt the Fourth doesn’t have the same meaning to the English as it does tous in the U.S.A. Even here, sometimes it seems that the sense of meaning in a holiday celebration gets lost in the process of the hubbub that surrounds the occasion.

The Fourth of July to me is a reminder of the blessings and opportunities that came of our national independence, a reminder to love our country, and to live out and preserve the ideals of liberty that give meaning and energy to our life as a people. Fully celebrating and appreciating the meaning of a holiday takes some intentionality, I believe. Just as the meaning of Christmas sometimes gets lost in the buying and giving of gifts and the hoopla of the season, or Memorial Day gets lost in the days at thelake or the backyard barbecues, the meaning of the Fourth can also get lost in the firecrackers and holiday distractions.

Celebration of the Fourth always speaks to me of our common interests and unityas an American people.

So I cherish a time when politicians can speak more respectfully to each other, to the President and all our national leaders as they work on the nation’s needs and problems. I don’t expect us as a people to ever all think alike, but it is possible for people to be agreeable as they confront their disagreements. The Fourth to me is a reminder that we need more of that.

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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.

Community, Pages 5 on 07/06/2011