Bloomington readying for July 4 celebration, parade

Around the country the smell of charcoal, gun powder, and barbeque smoke will soon permeate the air, and Bloomington will be no different. It has been 229 years since the Founding Fathers sat together in a room and signed a piece of paper that would birth American democracy, and nothing says happy 229th birthday like good food, fun and fireworks. \n"Fireworks celebrate our independence," said Steve Porter, owner of Steve's Fireworks, with four locations in town, all with extended hours around this time of year. Sales have been going up lately at the stores and Porter expects sales to increase. "It is going to be a long weekend," said Porter, who will be catering to the masses who crave bottle rockets, artillery shells and other fireworks to add to their weekend.\nLast year's celebrations were disturbed by the rain, but with clear weather in the forecast and an array of events, the weekend might prove to be memorable.\nThe city celebration begins on Saturday with a Picnic with the Pops at Ivy Tech State College, where citizens can either pay from $10 for blanket seating on up to $180 for a table. \n"It's a warm and fuzzy, and patriotic feeling that is quickly becoming a tradition in Bloomington," said John Winninger, the principal Cellist of the Bloomington Pops, and an IU communications professor. "It's quite an event." \nThe battle Hymn of the Republic, military branch theme songs and even theme songs from popular movies such as Star Wars and the Lion King, are expected to serenade listeners ears. "There's even a Spongebob parade for the kids," said Winninger, who is excited to perform in front of the traditionally 3,000-5,000 strong audience. The performance is followed by one of the many fireworks displays this weekend. \n"I just want to get through the performance without the rain," said Winninger, who recalls the downpour of the previous year that damaged instruments and cut the performance short. "We tried to play through it, but it was too much."\nThe Bloomington Speedway also has a place in Bloomington history as their 20th annual Gigantic Aero Fireworks Display, on Friday after a night of racing, will celebrate America's independence a little early.\nA community pride picnic will also be held in Bloomington July 4, hosted by the Indiana chapter of National Organization for Women, a coalition member of Indiana Equality www.incoalition.org. The event, called "Liberty and Justice for All," celebrates the dream of equality and first-class citizenship rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and their families\nThe Elks Lodge at 400 N. Walnut St. also has a spot in Bloomington Fourth of July tradition, as they will put on their 30th annual Fish Fry from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, which regularly attracts upwards of 400 Bloomington residents to chow down on Alaskan Pollack, barbequed chicken, and coleslaw. With most of the proceeds going to charity residents can feel good about pigging out. \n"The food is good, the beverages are fine, and it's the best spot in town to watch the parade," said Thomas Kiddie, of the Elks Lodge. "We are very excited about the fish fry, it's a Bloomington tradition." \nThe weekend will culminate with the city parade, which begins at 3 p.m. at 11th and Morton, and fresh off 90 parade entries last year, it will continue for however long it takes. \n"Anything and everything is included in the parade from boy and girl scout groups, politicians, to police and fireman," said Miranda Porte from the Bloomington Convention center.\nAnother Firework display will conclude the day and light up the night at 9 p.m. at the IU Memorial Stadium. \n"Last year's display was amazing," said Porte, who remembers it raining during the display. "Even though it rained people stayed out and the performance continued." \nWithout the rain, this year's celebrations look more promising.