It’s Independence Day once again, America’s birthday and the “midpoint” to the year as we know it. Yet as I sat down to write this particular opinion item today, I found myself kind of numb to the whole concept of parties and explosions.
Especially since there is nothing to cover here locally for July 4th that I would consider a community celebration.
This is a subject that has bugged me since I started working down here a long time ago, but haven’t really gotten a full story to give a complete history of Independence Day celebrations in Polk County.
Some background: when I started here in 2013/14, the major July event was the Homespun Festival in downtown Rockmart. Every year, the celebration would include fireworks and a parade, and so I guess it counted as the “Fourth of July” celebration one would expect a community to have every year.
Yet this doesn’t fully explain the situation as I see it. We have celebrations in Rome, Cave Spring, Buchanan and Tallapoosa, Hiram and later this week in Dallas. Everywhere around us celebrates the Fourth of July one way or another.
Polk County? Well… We celebrate. The parties are just limited to what dangerous items we can buy here or across state lines to blow up our backyard parties.
How did this come to pass, that neither of the cities can come up with something to do for July 4th?
My own personal theory is that someone decided at some point it wasn’t worth the money to spend fireworks every year, and folks just went along with it.
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I got various explanations from folks who have lived here longer than I and know the history better than myself.
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One such explanation was that former Police Chief WM Moss ran the Cedartown Police Department. An incident in the 1980s during New Years Eve when – and I quote someone who confirmed this story – it was “when folks used to pack Main Street on New Year’s Eve and just go wild.”
Someone ruined the fun for everyone by throwing a pack of firecrackers into a car, which then caused the car to catch fire and burn on Main Street.
The response? No more fireworks of any kind on Main Street, is the way the story was told.
Discussions have been held since about holding a July 4th celebration of some kind – per another community leader who I will keep anonymous for the purposes of this item – but nothing ever comes to fruition.
So without Homespun happening anymore, and without the cities or the county organizing a July 4th celebration, where does that leave us in Polk County? We have to drive north, south, or east (if you want to stay in Georgia) to enjoy fireworks and parades.
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I know that Polk County is just as full of patriotic fervor as any other of our neighbors surrounding our community. We have heroes of all ages and backgrounds who step up and do the work that needs to be done to help in Cedartown, Rockmart, and Aragon.
What bothers me is that when it comes time to step up and show our passion for our country and the freedoms this day represents, we can’t be bothered to organize and come together to celebrate as one.
So in 2023, let’s work together to put on a show – even a modest one. If for no other reason it reminds us that no matter what you believe, we all celebrate America’s birthday together.
It least you wouldn’t have to spend the gas to drive somewhere else for Fourth of July fireworks.
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