Reflections: Things that go BOOM

Ed Hungness

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Ed Hungness

June 26, 2011

By ED HUNGNESS Local Columnist The Record Eagle Wed Apr 04, 2012, 10:18 AM EDT

Next weekend we will be celebrating the 235th birthday of this great country. It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the bicentennial. Then I realized that 1976 was 35 years ago.

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a day filled with fun get-togethers with family and friends. In sleepy little Fife Lake, the village goes though a major transformation. There are more people visiting Fife Lake on the Fourth than at any other time of the year. We like to call it “The Best Fourth In the North” but I have noticed several other neighboring towns making the same claim.

As a child, I associated the holiday with three things — hot dogs, watermelon and firecrackers. I always loved things that go boom! No wimpy sparklers for me. I wanted things that blew up, terrified old ladies and sent neighbor girls running to their mothers.

About the middle of June, tents started popping up out on the edge of my hometown, Decatur, Ill. Usually they were located next to a gas station or at a major intersection. Large banners were erected along the road with one word printed in large red letters, “FIREWORKS.” It was enough to excite any red-blooded American lad.

Cruising by with my father, I begged him to stop the car. He dismissed my request saying that “we had plenty of time.” Oh, how I wondered what earth-shattering explosives were on display in those canvas tents.

I looked forward to any opportunity to ride with Dad, “just to keep him company.” My subtle approach was to not nag him about the fireworks but to occasionally remind him that it was nearing the Fourth. While on one of our outings he totally surprised me and whipped into the dusty parking area beside a gigantic grease-stained circus tent.

Inside the tent, there were rows of folding tables. An unshaven man in shabby overalls sat on a stool keeping his eye on the valuable, high-quality merchandise and reminding patrons not to smoke in the tent. Another man, with one eye, roamed the aisles wearing a cloth nail apron stuffed with dollar bills and a money changer on his belt.

With eyes wide open, I wandered the aisles in a trance-like state. The tables were covered with more fireworks than I had ever seen. I zeroed in on the stuff that my meager Fourth of July budget would allow. Sky rockets were out of my league and sparklers were for “little kids.” I hadn’t any concept of deficit spending and my sole source of income was from summertime lawnmowing jobs.

There were stacks of Black Cat firecrackers, Cherry Bombs, Silver Salutes, and the prized M-80s.

The Cherry Bombs and M-80s, it was rumored, could take a boy’s hand off at the wrist. They were powerful, loud and had fuses that would burn underwater causing an explosion like a depth charge. Older and much braver kids occasionally tossed these monsters of destruction into the local duck pond. I, on the other hand, was restricted to lighting them on the ground and running for cover.

I never lost any fingers or poked my eye out but I know people who did. Today all but a few mild fireworks are illegal in Michigan and for good reason. Annually there are thousands of injuries during the holiday weekend.

Unfortunately, 40 percent of all fireworks injuries are to people 15 and younger. Some are simply bystanders, victims of someone else’s carelessness. Even the innocent sparkler, which burns at 1,800 degrees, can seriously injure a child.

Have a great time next weekend, and if you are planning on being around fireworks, exercise caution and be safe.

Happy Fourth of July, northern Michigan!

Ed Hungness and his wife became full time residents of Fife Lake in 2005 after Ed’s retirement. He can be reached at edhungness@yahoo.com or by mail at P.O. Box 57, Fife Lake, MI 49633.