July 4 Events – Boca Raton to Jupiter
by Jamie Kahler
“July 4th in Abacoa” – 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm Location: Donald Ross Road in Jupiter
Conveniently located in the backyard of the Jupiter Campus. Roger Deal Stadium will be having a baseball game along with fun, food, and fireworks for the whole family. Not to mention Main Street having numerous stands and plenty of people running around. The music starts at 4 p.m. with rock/blues band Evil Monkey. At 6 p.m. it’s DJ Jammin’ Jim, and from 7 to 10 p.m. ContraBand will be performing. Once the baseball game ends the firework ceremony will begin.
“Fabulous 4th in Boca” – 6:00 pm – 10:00 pmLocaiton: FAU Boca Raton
Fun for all ages on the Boca campus, just follow the signs to find the fun. There will be no parking allowed on Glades Road, and all cars that park or idle there will be towed. The event starts at 6 p.m. and at 9 p.m. the fireworks parade the sky. The Radio station WRMF 97.9 FM will be playing patriotic music during the fireworks.
4th on Flagler – 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm Location: Downtown West Palm Beach, Flagler Drive and Clematis Street
West Palms largest firework display takes place on Flagler Drive. The fireworks overlook the intracoastal waterway and the ocean, making way for a great view of the ideal Florida fireworks. All along Clematis Street there will be food, music and more, which is conveniently located right next to the intracoastal. There will be three stages of entertainment with music from pop band The Click Five. (Click here to visit their website) The fireworks will start around 9 p.m.
July 4 Events – Fort Lauderdale to Miami
by Michele Boyet
“Fourth of July at Seminole Hard Rock” – All DayLocation: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Celebrate the fourth at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. There will be great food and drink specials all day plus a $25,000 drawing, free games and activities and a fireworks show a 9 p.m. For more information, call (954) 583-3250
“July 4 Fireworks Spectacular” – 1 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Location: Fort Lauderdale Beach
The City of Fort Lauderdale is hosting a free, all-day celebration on Fort Lauderdale Beach from 1:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on SE 5th Street and A1A. There will also me Twilight concerts featuring the Nucklebusters at 4:30 p.m. and the Hep Cat Boo Daddies. The City of Fort Lauderdale will present its annual fireworks show at 9 p.m. For more information, call (954) 828-5363.
“America’s Birthday Bash at Bayside” – 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.Location: Bayside Ampitheatre
Enjoy live multicultural music, delicious food and live fireworks from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bayside Ampitheatre. While the view is best from the theatre, the fireworks show should be visible throughout most of downtown and over the water. The festival runs from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.. The Bayside Ampitheatre is located at 301 Biscayne Blvd in downtown Miami. For more information, call (305) 358-7550.
“City of Miami Beach Fourth of July Celebration” – 7 p.m. – onLocation: Miami Beach, 10th Street & Ocean Dr.
The night begins with ceremony at 7 p.m., for children from all over the world who will be receiving their citizenship. Directly following, will be a free concert by Carlos Oliva y Los Sobrinos del Juez and fireworks will start at nightfall. Festivities will be on the beach at 10th Street and Ocean Drive. For more information, call the Miami Beach Tourism Center at (305) 673-7400.
Top Four Songs for The fourth of July
By Anthony A. Choman
The year was 1814, the lyricist was a lawyer and amateur poet by the name of Francis Scott Key, and it was written during the War of 1812 as he watched the “bombs bursting in air” from British bombardment in the Chesapeake Bay. The rest, as they say, is history. Of course, I’m talking about none other than our nation’s national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.
Over the years it has been sung before each and every athletic contest and either recited or quoted in some form or another in essays, articles, at galas and holidays, and even songs. Whether it is Jimi Hendrix’s version at Woodstock or the more traditional format of The Boston Pops orchestra, our national anthem inspires us…all of us.
The inspiration of our great nation and its constant beautification doesn’t always have to come from the national anthem itself or in the form a John Philip Sousa march (Stars And Stripes Forever), but perhaps just by the ideology of the day itself.
On this day of days, this day of celebration and salutations (via fireworks), there are four original songs in particular that evoke the spirit of Mr. Francis Scott Key and the strife of our fallen brothers and sisters. As it’s been said before this land is our land and from sea to shining sea these four songs perhaps best surmise the spirit and pride that will be felt throughout the land of today.
“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” – Bruce Springsteen
“Sandy the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight/Forcin’ a light into all those stoned-out faces left stranded on this Fourth of July/Down in town the circuit’s full with switchblade lovers so fast so shiny so sharp/And the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark/And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers along the shore/Chasin’ all them silly New York girls”
“Ragged Old Flag” – Johnny Cash
“You see, we got a little hole in that flag there/When Washington took it across the Delaware/and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it writing ‘Say Can You See’/It got a rip in New Orleans/with Packingham & Jackson tugging at its seams/and It almost fell at the Alamo/beside the Texas flag,/But she waved on though/She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill/There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg/And the south wind blew hard on/That Ragged Old Flag/On Flanders Field in World War I/She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun/She turned blood red in World War II/She hung limp, and low, a time or two/She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam”
“America The Beautiful” – Ray Charles
“Oh beautiful, for heroes proved/In liberating strife/Who more than self, our country loved/And mercy more than life/America, America, may God thy gold refine/Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divined…/But now wait a minute, I’m talking about America, sweet America/You know, God done shed his grace on thee/He crowned thy good, yes he did, in a brotherhood/From sea to shining sea”
“America” – Simon & Garfunkel
“Let us be lovers well marry our fortunes together/I’ve got some real estate here in my bag/So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies/And we walked off to look for America/Kathy, I said as we boarded a greyhound in Pittsburgh/Michigan seems like a dream to me now/It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw/I’ve gone to look for America/…toss me a cigarette, I think there’s one in my raincoat/we smoked the last one an hour ago/
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine/And the moon rose over an open field/…Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike/They’ve all gone to look for America”
