Celebrating Summer Holidays (about 1820) ~~~ Ruby Knudsen Parkin

 We always looked forward to getting ready for the big Fourth of July parade.  Mama always made a really nice dress out of embroidered material for each of us girls every summer.  We got new white long stockings and nearly always a pair of black patent leather slippers.  All the kids in the neighborhood had aboout the same type of clothes.  The night before the Fourth of July, about eight or ten of the girls around the block slept together on the Lund's upstairs porch.  It was really awe inspiring to watch the heavens, and once in a while the stars fell and left a streak of light across the sky.  We listened to the sounds of the night that were so eerie, but we eventually fell asleep. 

The next thing we knew the cannons in the hills were shooting off with a boom that fairly shook the earth around us.  Then we listened for the sound of music; the town band got in a hayrack or some other vehicle that could carry them and rode through town playing.  It was wonderful, so exciting; soon they came past the house, and we went home to get ready for the big parade and the rest of the Fourth of July festivities.  All the kids planned how much money we would ask for to spend on the big day.  One day stands out in my mind as a really special day because we asked for and received ~twenty-five cents to spend!  We decided to spend a nickel in the morning at the parade and then in the afternoon go up to the drugstore and have a BANANA SPLIT, which cost $.15.  Then we still had another nickel to spend at night when we saw the fireworks shot off on the corner below the big schoolhouse where a monument stood.  It was a thrill to watch the fireworks, especially when we were sure the sparks hadn't caused a fire anywhere in town.