By noon Friday, streets were crowded, and every fireworks stand, grocery store and video kiosk in town was packed with customers preparing for the long holiday weekend.
Even the area”s tiniest denizens got into the spirit — though some weren”t quite sure exactly what they were supposed to be celebrating.
At Orbit Fireworks on Highway 45 North, Curtis McDonald, 5, peered intently at a stack of Roman candles. His sister, Caitlyn McDonald, 6, said she preferred them to sparklers, because she doesn”t like the way sparklers “get sparks all over us.”
Her brother shrugged, unimpressed, and grabbed a fistful of the thin rods.
“They”re my favorites,” he said.
According to store manager Teresa Padgett, they”re everyone”s favorite, along with bottle rockets and a monster noisemaker called “One Bad Mother-In-Law” — a 500 gram “cake” which is essentially three minutes of color and sound, lit with one fuse.
Padgett said business has been brisk since Orbit opened on June 18, and it”s getting busier as the Fourth draws near. She said she doesn”t know whether the economy is improving or if more people are simply choosing to celebrate at home this year because of high gas prices.
Whatever the case, sales are good, she said.
Shelia Coggins, the grandmother of the McDonald siblings, said her family always spends the holiday at home, grilling and shooting fireworks, but things will be especially poignant for them this year.
Coggins” niece, who is in the National Guard, is leaving soon for Iraq.
“It makes you really think of them over there and how serious all this really is,” Coggins said. “I”m ready for (the troops) to come home.”
Around town
In east Columbus, you can catch the third annual fireworks display at Plantation Pointe Retirement Community”s lakeside pavilion on Windsor Boulevard Monday. The event is free and open to the public. There will be no vendors, but coolers with non-alcoholic beverages are allowed, along with picnic blankets and lawn chairs.
“It has grown by leaps and bounds,” said publicist Doug Kilarski, noting that many times the show brings traffic to a stop on the nearby Highway 82 bypass.
The display, operated by MidSouth Fireworks, will begin shortly after dark and will last between 15 and 20 minutes.
In Starkville, Fourth of July activities will be held at the Starkville Sportsplex. Children”s activities will begin at 4 p.m., and there will be free hot dogs, snow cones, and ice cream beginning at 5:30 p.m. Political candidates will speak at 6 p.m.
Fireworks will begin at 9 p.m.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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