The Fourth of July celebrations in the White Mountains span many days, and today was the annual Helen Hayes Memorial Fourth of July Parade in Bartlett. As far as good old timey parades go, this one has a reputation for being one of the best. There are walkers, drivers, fleets of antique cars, a marching band and patriotic flag-waving spectators who line the streets. Both the Jackson and Bartlett Fire Departments were there with both modern and vintage fire vehicles. Dana went with a friend (uh hum …some of us have to work!) and he said it was a really good time!
I never really enjoyed parades when I was growing up, but I seem to have become more and more patriotic over the years, and the Fourth of July is a great holiday as far as I am concerned! Ever since reading the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder with our kids, I have been fascinated with Independence Day, and learning what an important celebration it was for our nation.
In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura, Carrie, and Pa walk into DeSmet so that they can celebrate Independence Day. The day is full of firecrackers, lemonade, and horse races. However, the citizens of DeSmet remember to pause and think about what they are celebrating. A man stands up and shares a brief history of America and its fight for freedom. He follows his ad-lib history lesson by reading the Declaration of Independence. Pa leads the listeners to respond by breaking into the song. The combination of these three events ferments in Laura’s mind to create a breakthrough idea. Here is how Laura describes the moment:
“‘So here we are today,’ the man went on. Every man Jack of us a free and independent citizen of God’s country, the only country on earth where a man is free and independent… It’s Fourth of July and on this day somebody’s got to read the Declaration of Independence. It looks like I’m elected, so hold your hats, boys; I’m going to read it.’…Then Pa began to sing. All at once everyone was singing: ‘My country, ‘tis of thee…Great God our King!!’
The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock-still. Suddenly she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America’s king.
She thought: Americans won’t obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn’t anyone else who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.
Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free. It means you have to be good. ‘Our father’s God, author of liberty—‘ The laws of Nature and of Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free.”
Happy Independence Day to all … how wonderful is our Freedom!
I never really enjoyed parades when I was growing up, but I seem to have become more and more patriotic over the years, and the Fourth of July is a great holiday as far as I am concerned! Ever since reading the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder with our kids, I have been fascinated with Independence Day, and learning what an important celebration it was for our nation.
In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura, Carrie, and Pa walk into DeSmet so that they can celebrate Independence Day. The day is full of firecrackers, lemonade, and horse races. However, the citizens of DeSmet remember to pause and think about what they are celebrating. A man stands up and shares a brief history of America and its fight for freedom. He follows his ad-lib history lesson by reading the Declaration of Independence. Pa leads the listeners to respond by breaking into the song. The combination of these three events ferments in Laura’s mind to create a breakthrough idea. Here is how Laura describes the moment:
“‘So here we are today,’ the man went on. Every man Jack of us a free and independent citizen of God’s country, the only country on earth where a man is free and independent… It’s Fourth of July and on this day somebody’s got to read the Declaration of Independence. It looks like I’m elected, so hold your hats, boys; I’m going to read it.’…Then Pa began to sing. All at once everyone was singing: ‘My country, ‘tis of thee…Great God our King!!’
The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock-still. Suddenly she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America’s king.
She thought: Americans won’t obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn’t anyone else who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.
Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free. It means you have to be good. ‘Our father’s God, author of liberty—‘ The laws of Nature and of Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free.”
Happy Independence Day to all … how wonderful is our Freedom!
Very well said... :) :) :) Happy 4th of July from Oregon, Heather :)
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