Kansan Summer Weekly/Wednesday, July 1, 1987
9
Independence Days Festival tradition continues
Kansas City and Topeka organizers plan explosive Fourth
By DEBRA A. PETERSON Special to the Kansan
Independence Day extravaganzas in Topeka and Kansas City, Mo., might lure some people out of Lawrence this holiday weekend.
Organizers of the fourth annual Spirit Festival in Kansas City, Mo., said they are hoping to attract about 175,000 people with a focus on family fun this year. Topeka's Go 4th! festival organizers expect their fireworks display to attract nearly 100,000.
The Spirit Festival at Liberty Mall in Kansas City's Penn Valley Park will feature five theme areas. One of the themes is Familyville, which will offer hands-on art for children, strolling Disney characters and carnival rides. It will also feature Box City, which is an all-day activity where children will decorate small boxes to represent buildings in a miniature Kansas City.
"We're trying to bill it this year as a family flag-waving celebration," he said.
To maintain a family atmosphere, all coolers and parcels will be checked at the gate for alcohol, fireworks, cans and bottles.
O'Brien said that celebrities could bring their own food, but that 15 food vendors inside the park would sell a variety of items. On a-stick, food rides and novelties
must be paid for with 25-cent coupons available there or at United Super stores.
Entertainment on Friday will include political satire by local comedian David Naster at 7 p.m. and Motown music revise at 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Metropolitan Children's Choir will perform at 7 p.m., followed by the U.S. Navy Band, which will play music from the last 40 years.
At 9:20 p.m., former democratic Sen. Thomas Eagleton will narrate Aaron Copeland's *A Lincoln Portrait*, accompanied by the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Chorus. The fireworks display begins at 10 p.m.
Volunteer staff and two full-time planners have been preparing for the estimated 175,000 guests for months, O'Brien said. Volunteers run concessions, sell tickets and organize publicity.
“As soon as the furor died from last year's festival, they started on plans for this year,” O'Brien said. “To have it without the volunteers.”
She recommended that visitors park in the Hallmark Cards Inc. employee lot, downtown, or in the Plaza shopping center lot and take one of the 50 city buses marked Special or a trolley car to the park. Police recommend that people avoid
parking on Penn Valley Drive because tickets may be issued.
Admission is $2 for adults and free for children under 12 accompanied by a guardian.
All ages receive free admission to Topeka'sGo 4th! celebration on the Washburn University campus, said Bob Botsford of KSNT-TV, a co-sponsor of the event.
'As soon as the furor died down from last year's festival, they started on plans for this year. We wouldn't be able to have it without the volunteers.'
— Jan O'Brien volunteer
The two-day celebration again will feature fireworks choreographed to music by Austin Fireworks Inc., Wichita. The company was awarded one of six fireworks contracts for last year's Statue of Liberty celebration in New York City and also half of the World's Fair fireworks exhibit in Canada last year.
Botsford said that Austin Fireworks Inc. usually records one tape
of fireworks music and distributes it to several cities. But this year, Topeka wanted something different.
He said computerized machinery controlled the fireworks' display.
"At that point," Botsford said, "the whole sky will be full of stuff."
"We took the Washburn Concert
Orchestra and a medley of songs by
June Murphy, a local artist,
Austin mixed them," Botsford said.
The recorder America, God bless
the recorders. Murphy will sing for the finale.
But there's more to the Topea festival than fireworks. The festival also incorporates Concert in the Sky, a talent show in its 11th year. The four winners of the talent show will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, before the fireworks display begins.
People who attend the festival are advised to arrive early, especially on Saturday evening, to avoid traffic around the campus, Botsford said.
“Parking is a problem only during the fireworks,” Botsford said. “Between 9 and 10 p.m. traffic is blocked for 12 blocks all around.”
The main idea of the two-day event, Botsford said, is to show off Shawnee County. The celebration is a community effort. Local non-profit organizations provide food and amusements.
Fireworks will light the Lawrence sky
By VAN IENERETTE
Special to the Kansan
At dusk on Saturday, two rockets will arch skyward from a north Lawrence riverbank and explode in a brilliant flash of color, signaling the start of the Independence Days fireworks display.
The traditional Fourth of July exhibition is being staged for the 32nd year by the Lawrence Jaycees. This is the second year that the event, once known to local residents as the Jaycees Fireworks Extravaganza, has been a joint effort of the Jaycees and Independence Daws organizers.
Doyl Merz, chairman of the Jaycees' fireworks committee, said that a team of workers would begin the show at 9:08 p.m.
"The grand finale will be great," said Merrz. "We are planning to have
115 bombs go off at once, and you have to see something like that to believe it!'
Merz said he and a crew of six would spend most of Saturday preparing about $5000 worth of fireworks for the evening's show, which should last nearly 45 minutes. He said they would set the fireworks off at the launch site, called the "pit" on the east eave of the Kansas River.
Everyone on the team has experience handling fireworks, and is certified by the Lawrence Fire Department for the event, Merz said.
Rich Barr, Lawrence fire marshal,
said, "Members of the pit crew were
required to pass an examination
written by the state before receiving
certification. Safety is a primary
concern for everyone involved, and
we are taking every precaution possible to prevent accidents."
The fireworks display was held at Memorial Stadium until 1985 but was moved to the current site on the second and Indiana Streets last year.
Barr, a ten-year veteran of the Lawrence Fire Department, said that he preferred having the fireworks at the river because it put distance between spectators and the pit.
"We will have a fire engine on location but we don't anticipate any problems," he said.
However, Barr said he was concerned about the use of fireworks by the public. He said that injuries and property damages could be avoided by following the manufacturer's instructions and by using common
sense.
"City ordinance specifies that the only three days during the year that an individual may be in possession of fireworks are the second, third and fourth," Barr said. "Also, fireworks can be discharged only within certain hours on those three days."
Fireworks can be set off in the city from 7 to 10 p.m. on July 2 and 3, and from 7 to 11 p.m. on July 4, he said. Cherry bombs, M80s and bottle rockets are illegal.
In the past, fires in Lawrence have been attributed to fireworks, including one which resulted in residential property damage of over $60,000. Most of the fires were a result of mishandling or unsafe practices by individuals, Barr said.
The calendar is for afternoon and evening events only. All shows will be held at Burcham Park, Second and Indiana streets.
Weekend Calendar
Friday
Riverfront Stage
7 p.m. — Riders in the Sky, country music
8:40 p.m. --- New Grass Revival, blue grass music.
Saturday
Riverfront Stage
12:10 p.m. — Paul Gray and the Gaslight Gang, traditional jazz.
1. 50 p.m. — Scrapwood, string band and cloggers.
1 p.m. — Sideshow, juggling and comedy.
2:40 p.m. — Scaraglen, Irish.
3:30 p.m. — Blue Grass Brigade,
blue grass music.
4:20 p.m. — Scrapwood, string hand and cloggers
5:10 p.m. — Full Circle, folk music
8:45 p.m. — Lawrence Symphony Orchestra.
7 p.m. — Banu Gibson and the New Orleans Hot Jazz Orchestra, New Orleans jazz
9 p.m. — Jaycees Fireworks Extravaganza.
9:45 p. m.- Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, Banque Gibson and New Orleans Hot Jazz Orchestra, and Philip van Lidh de Jeude.
Tent Stage
12:15 p.m. — Blue Grass Bri
blue grass music
1:50 p.m. — Rick Averill's Seem-to- Players.
2:20 p.m. — Full Circle, folk music
3:15 p.m. — Sideshow, juggling and comedy.
and comedy.
4:10 p.m. — Scartaglen, Irish.
5:10 p.m. — Sideshow, juggling and comedy
6 p.m. — Lawrence Barn Dance
music and String Band
6 p.m. LAWRENCE
Assoc. and Scrapwood String Band
Noon - Scartaglen, Irish.
Shadv Grove Stage
12:30 p.m. — Phil Belknap, tight rope walker.
1 p.m. — Mike Helvey.
1:30 p.m. — Paul Gray and the
Gaillard Gang, traditional jazz
4 p.m. - Mike Helvey.
3 p.m. — Lawrence Recorder Ensemble
5 p.m. — Blue Grass Brigade,
blue grass music.
Riverfront Stage
1 p.m. — Scrapwood, string band and cloggers.
■ 5:30 p.m. — Phil Belknap, tight rope walker.
and come
1:50 p.m. — Scartaglen, Irish.
12:10 p.m. — River City Six, New Orleans jazz.
12:10 p.m. — Sideshow, juggling and comedy.
3:05 p.m. — Ric Averill's Seem to be Players
Tent Stage
4:30 p.m. — Ric Averill's Seem-to-be-Players.
Sunday
3:35 p.m. — Last Kansas Exit,
blue grass music
1. 50 p.m. — Full Circle, folk music.
3:30 p.m. - "Sweet Home"
Suite 4.5.6 Speedup
Noon — Scartaglen, Irish.
Shady Grove Stage
12:30 p.m. — Phil Belknap, tight rope walker
4.10 p.m. — Scartaglen, Irish.
5 p.m. — Full Circle, folk music.
4:10 p.m. — Scartaglen, Irish.
1 p.m. — Last Kansas Exit, blue grass music
1. 30 p.m. — Sideshow, juggling and comedv.
2:30 p.m. — Mike Helvey.
2 p.m. — Phil Belknap, tight rope walker.
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