Threw on two classic holiday shorts while having a quick breakfast. "Patriotic Popeye" wishes his nephews would forget the fireworks and find other ways to have fun on the 4th. He teaches them a lesson when their largest rocket carries them off, and he has to rescue them. Bugs defends Boston as a "Bunker Hill Bunny" fighting against Hessian (Yosemite) Sam.
Hurried out the door at 9:55. The Oaklyn 4th of July Parade was supposed to start at 10. One of the things you can always count on is it's NEVER on time...and considering I saw people lining up on Johnson, too, I suspected it would be even less so today. I could have stayed there, but all the fun stuff is on West Clinton. I arrived just in time to see the Mr. Softee truck pull up in the municipal parking lot.
My brother-in-law Craig, 8-year-old niece Finley, and 15-year-old nephew Khai were already sitting in lawn chairs, waiting for the show to begin. I got to hand Finley, whose birthday was yesterday, her stuffed Squishmallows unicorn. She absolutely loved it! She loves animals of all varieties, including mythological. After she opened her present, we got free ice cream from Mr. Softee. I went simple with a cup of soft-serve vanilla and chocolate sprinkles. She got a chocolate/vanilla twist with strawberry crunch sprinkles.
The Parade was over a half-hour late, but when it did arrive, it came by biker group. To my niece and nephews' amusement, the bikers came first, looking like fierce teddy bears on giant motorcycles. The Oaklyn Food Pantry had by far the best float. Their hot dog theme had everyone dressed as condiments, including mustard and ketchup bottle cone hats. Most of the others were local baseball and softball teams throwing candy, which is all Finley cared about (along with waving to her friends on the softball floats). I even managed to snitch lollipops and pieces of hard candy for myself. (Oh, and I love the names of the local softball teams - the Bubblegum Bombers and the Flamingos.)
Craig took Finley and Khai home for lunch after that, but I stuck around for the National Anthem (the lady who sang it was really excellent), and the winners of the float contest. I think you can guess that the Oaklyn Pantry deservedly won that one. Though there were also free hot dogs and bags of chips, it was way too early for lunch. I grabbed free red, blue, and silver beads and USA headband bobbles instead. I was going to stop at Common Grounds Coffee House, but I realized I forgot my money. Oh well. Just walked home instead.
Relaxed for an hour while watching two patriotic specials on mice making unusual contributions to American history. Chester the Cricket is a Yankee Doodle Cricket when he supposedly writes "Yankee Doodle" for all of the animals in the Colonies. Tucker the Mouse claims his ancestor the Declaration of Independence to prove cats and mice can get along, while Harry says his got a drunk Paul Revere moving on that famous midnight ride.
The Disney special Ben & Me takes us to Philadelphia to meet Amos, a poor church mouse. He moves in with Benjamin Franklin and helps him create memorable inventions like the Franklin stove and bifocals. Amos is also instrumental in starting the Pennsylvania Gazette and putting out hard-hitting news stories for that. He and Ben finally part ways after Amos is used as a test-mouse in the famous kite-flying experiment, but Ben calls him back to help write the Declaration of Independence.
Headed back out after that, this time on my bike. Craig invited me to barbecue between 4 and 5, but it was only 12:30. I had plenty of time for a nice picnic in the park. Rode down to Haddon Culinary, which, thankfully, was opened. Bought a turkey club hoagie with their house-made chips and a Coke Zero. Enjoyed it under the trees at one of the old wooden picnic benches in Knight Park, near the pavilion. I was surprised at how quiet they were. I figured everyone would be picnicking on such a gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy, slightly humid but not annoyingly so, probably in the mid-80's. I shared my table with a drowsy ladybug enjoying the one shaft of sunlight coming through the trees.
After I rode home, I put on Johnny Tremain. Johnny (Hal Stalmaster) is a silversmith's apprentice who agrees to remake a sugar basin for wealthy Johnathan Lyte (Sebastian Cabot). Unfortunately, he burns his hand while making it so badly, he can never be a silversmith again. He ends up as a messenger boy for the Sons of Liberty. He tries to sell a silver cup with the Lytes' crest, only for Lyte to claim he stole it. Fortunately, his former master's daughter Priscilla Lapham (Luana Patten) speaks for him in court. He's now able to throw himself into getting involved in the American Revolution, including tossing that tea overboard in Boston and joining the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Though this loses a lot of incidents and characters from the book, it does have excellent performances from Cabot and Ralph Clinton as Lyte and General Gage, and Richard Beymer looks a lot more engaged here than he would four years later in West Side Story. Still recommended if you're a fan of American history, the original book, or the Disney action films of the 50's and 60's.
Mom called me around this point. I haven't heard from her in a while. She did appreciate my finding another job that I like, but still insists that I should remain at the Acme for the pension and because I'll probably be retiring in a few years. She's also concerned about my brother Keefe. I'm thrilled that his wife Julia is pregnant, and they'll be having a boy in the fall, but she's worried about them needing a bigger home and how their daughter Aurora will react.
Switched to my original cast CD for By the Beautiful Sea after the movie ended. Shirley Booth headlined this 1952 Broadway show as Lottie Gibson, a vaudeville performer in early 1900's Coney Island who falls for a Shakespearean actor (Wilbur Evans). His daughter "Baby" Betsy disapproves. Betsy's mother tries to keep her as a child to get better roles, but she's in love with a young waiter at the boardwalk. Lottie eventually gives her a dress and teaches her how to behave older, no matter what age her mother wants her to be.
I've had this CD since I found it at a long-defunct music store in North Cape May around 1996. To be honest, it's not that great of a show. They never did figure out what to do with the Baby Betsy subplot. She doesn't even get a song. Apparently, the book on this one was constantly re-written right up until opening, and it shows. The songs are something of a hodge-podge, with most of the chorus numbers not being anything but filler. I do like the comic lament "I'd Rather Wake Up By Myself" for Booth and the lovely ballad "Alone Too Long" for Evans, but most of the score is as much of a mash-up as the show in general. Only for major enthusiasts of Booth or 50's musicals.
Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for the next few hours. Hilary spends her evening making phone calls. Jeff hasn't been seen at his radio jobs that he was broadcasting with his secretary Victor on the situation overseas, nor at the stage roles manager Scott worked so hard for him to get. After she finishes, Puppy dresses her for dinner in a lavish black velvet and fur gown. She eventually takes her down to her dinner with the Beast in a beautifully-appointed dining room. He tries to ask her to marry him, but she tells him she's in love with someone else. That sets them fighting again, and she ends up running out the door, angry and wiling to leave.
I got so into working on the story, I didn't get to Rose's until after 5. I got there at the same time as Craig's mom and dad, who were just getting out of their car when I was walking up the driveway. Rose had a huge spread set out - bowls of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, plates of grapes and cherries, another plate of Doritos. Finley was just excited about her birthday yesterday. She went to a local spa for little girls, then went to Dave & Buster's and out to eat. We had grilled hot dogs, burgers, vegetables, and the sweet potatoes Craig's parents brought along for dinner.
Finley insisted on going swimming after dinner, even though she'd already changed. She changed back into a bathing suit. I totally forgot Rose and Craig had that big inflatable pool in the backyard. I would have brought my own suit if I remembered. I sat in the back and kept an eye on her while she splashed, swam, and showed off her swimming moves. She was so interested when I told her about the story I was writing, I gave her the revised version. I didn't think 8-year-olds knew much about the early Great Depression, so I put the story in a more generic fairy-tale-world. Jeff was a prince, Scott a knight, Victor a wizard, they were still turned into a troll, bear, and eagle by a wicked fairy, and the other ladies still had to rescue them.
Finley especially liked hearing about how much Maple loved the adventure, how she stroked all the animals and will ride Victor later. "That's so me!" she squealed with delight. She put in a request to be in the story, or at least use her name. Maybe not this one, but I might get some local kids into the Maple Rapunzel story I have planned for after this one.
We finally dragged Finley inside around 8 to have cake. She apparently had cupcakes yesterday, but Rose had a small white cake for her to share with the family. It was a simple white and blue cake Rose bought from Wegman's, but it was nice and moist, and the icing was amazing. We all sang "Happy Birthday" for Finley, and I enjoyed my slice quickly before heading out.
Made a quick stop at Dollar General for Gatorade Zero before following everyone else making their way down to Newton Lake Park. Though the fireworks are set off at Collingswood High School, most people watch them at the park, where the entrance is free. I ducked around people on blankets and lawn chairs, making my way down to the hill overlooking the brand-new neon orange and bright lime green playground equipment. I was hoping to avoid the damp ground, but I just ended up plopping on the hill.
Looked at my cell phone until the first lights were seen in the sky. Collingswood always puts on an amazing show, and tonight was no exception. I oohed and ahhed over purple circles, giant multi-colored sparkles, golden glitter, and rings within rings. Hurried off just as the big finale boomed and glittered against the ebony sky and the bare black outlines of trees.
Hurried home just in time for another type of fireworks. Tonight was the chat "premiere" for the School Riot. It's delicious irony that the head of Match Game Productions debuted this tonight. Richard Dawson and Debralee Scott hold their own revolution when producer and judge Ira Skutch won't match "school" with "finishing school." Here's the episode, so you can see how it all went down:
Finished the night with a patriotic dose of Disney history. The 1989 Walt Disney World 4th of July Parade is where the balance started to switch to bands and advertising. New Kids on the Block were THE huge boy band in this era. We hear them performing two of their biggest hits in the now-defunct Pleasure Island, including "Hangin' Tough." The Temptations perform at the entrance to what's now Disney Hollywood Studios. Splash Mountain (now Tiana's Bayou Adventure) is featured. The actual parade doesn't really last that long. The last half-hour is given over to a too-long medley of old musical numbers, with an incredibly annoying Carol Channing and grown women dressed as Shirley Temple. It's ridiculous. They should have done ten minutes of this, tops, not 30. The members of the Mickey Mouse Club running around Typhoon Lagoon would have been of vastly more interest to me at age 10.
At any rate, here's how all this went down for yourself. And I hope you had a great 4th of July with your own families!
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