So help me, there truly is nothing like it. Anywhere!
In cities and
towns across Wyoming, people see July 4 as a time of fireworks and blowing
things up. But one town tops all the rest in the state and perhaps the nation.
While watching
televised images of the nighttime bombing of Baghdad during the 2003 invasion
of Iraq, I turned to someone and said: “I’ve seen that before.” It looked just
like a typical night of July 4 in my hometown of Lander.
The
Independence Day holiday has always been a big deal for Lander since it is the
home of the oldest paid rodeo on earth – predating Cheyenne’s.
But in recent
years, this holiday has become a pyrotechnic maniac’s dream.
In this town
of 7,500 people, you can find at least 30 different locations where neighbors
have banded together to light big displays of fireworks.
And this is in
addition to the fire department’s official fireworks on the night of July 4.
It should pointed out that the
Lander Pioneer Days holiday includes a big pancake breakfast, lots of distance
races, two days of rodeos, a wonderful parade on the morning of the fourth
(watched by 12,000 people), a huge Rotary Buffalo Barbecue at City Park at noon
on that day plus lots of other activities.
Because the
July 4th holiday is such a big deal in my town, just about all the high school
reunions are held during that time, too.
It is truly a homecoming for folks to remember.
In our case, my family always
shoots off fireworks on the evening of the 4th, but not to the extent of our
neighbors. One of our traditions is to use cigars to light them. Some years ago I went to Europe and managed
to sneak home five Cuban cigars to smoke at some later time.
Imagine my
surprise (and horror) to come home to where our fireworks display was already
starting and seeing that my wife Nancy had passed out my Cubans to the folks
there to use to light the fireworks instead of my traditional Swisher Sweets.
Incredible!
Sharing the credit (or blame) for
Lander’s pyrotechnic excesses is Mayor Del McOmie. A Lander native, he has always felt this was
a “tradition” that he can remember during his entire life of growing up
locally.
“We want
people to be safe and to be responsible,” he says. “But people deserve to enjoy
fireworks on the fourth. It has always been a tradition here, where
Independence Day is our biggest holiday of the year. As long as I am mayor, we will try to make it
as much fun as possible.”
There is
another side to the story. Lander resident, in an earlier column about Lander’s
July 4 racket, resident Nancy Debevoise has this to say: “From sun up until
late at night on July 4, I feel as if I`m in some bomb-besieged third-world
country.
“While some people are fairly
responsible about fireworks, too many seem to spend the entire day and evening
(and their paychecks) setting off round after round of peace-shattering noise,
with no consideration for neighbors, others` property or passersby’s,” she says.
Lucie Whisler recalled a fun-filled
July 4 at her neighborhood at Lucky Lane in Lander, which consisted mostly of
mountain climbers. “Some bright souls decided to put a big firecracker in
a bowling ball. The ball went to pieces, flying over houses, cars and
people. Fortunately, no one was hit or hurt, and nothing was damaged.
Don`t try this at home,” she cautions,
The folks in
the Indian Lookout neighborhood pool their resources and explode perhaps the
most serious “amateur” show in town.
People are stationed with hoses to extinguish fires that may erupt in
the neighboring nature preserve.
It is almost
impossible to adequately describe what Lander on the night of July 4 looks
like. You just have to experience it.
The sight is incredible. Lander sits in
a valley and a lot of folks live in the hills around town. They tell amazing
stories of what it looks like, peering down at the siege.
In recent years, some amazing color
time-exposure photos have been made of the explosions. Last year, one
enterprising photographer sent a drone up into the middle of the flak to get
some of the most amazing images ever.
There really
is no way to describe how it looks, feels and sounds to be in Lander on the
night of July 4th.
Probably somewhat like Baghdad,
huh?
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