Fireworks, Rodeo and Baseball

The Fourth of July will soon be here. Do you remember how you used to celebrate this holiday? You may even remember when it wasn’t a three-day holiday. My thoughts turn to fireworks. Remember when fireworks were done on an island in Fort Peck Lake? You may remember the bumper-to-bumper traffic returning home from the night’s entertainment. That might have been before camping at the lake was so common. There may still be a lot of you that never spent the night camping at Fort Peck or the Pines unless you attended a summer camp there.

You may remember taking part in small-town baseball games. This was an event, maybe a tournament, for small communities in Valley County and surrounding counties. Then there were the rodeos. We still have the area rodeos that preced the Fourth of July at Opheim and Hinsdale, but I think a lot of communities had their own rodeo consisting of local cowboys. Rodeos bring to mind another topic for another issue, so anyone remembering early-day rodeos, give me a call. We will see if I can put together some memories.

Whatever your choice for celebrating the Fourth, have a safe and fun weekend.