Fireworks

Fireworks shows light up the night sky on the Fourth of July. Last year there were approximately 9,600 people who were injured from fireworks and treated in hospitals and 4 people died, according to a Norman press release. Children ages 5 to 14 years old are have the highest risk for fireworks related injury, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Darian Johnson’s first experience with fireworks was at 14 years old. Johnson accidentally started a fire in a field and put the fire out by himself. “I have a lot of respect for bottle rockets and for firecrackers in general,” Johnson said. “We used to have Roman candle fights and peoples’ shirts would get caught on fire. We never thought anything of it. I don’t use them as toys anymore. I try to be very cautious.” Before the Independence day celebrations began the National Council on Fireworks Safety released a list of safety tips. The firework safety tips included having a water hose or bucket ready, to be sober when shooting fireworks, never relighting “dud” fireworks, and to supervise children who are using fireworks. Authorities encourages people to be extremely cautious. “Any fireworks that you have, supervised or not, even parents that are standing right next to a kid with fireworks is just like having that parent somewhere else because you never know when that firework is actually going to go off or if it is going to work properly,” David C. Randolph III, fire inspector, said. The Norman Fire Department encourages citizens to view professional pyro technic shows instead of shooting off fireworks and reminds the public that it is illegal to shoot off consumer fireworks within city limits.

A child plays with a sparkler while her parents are nearby.

LibertyFest held the Taste of Edmond at the Festival Marketplace in downtown Edmond Sunday evening.

 “I think it’s the best thing going” Terry Officer, president of LibertyFest, said. “I’d recommend it for any town to have a series of events.”

The Taste of Edmond event serves as the fundraiser for LibertyFest. It mainly goes towards the parade and fireworks show on Wednesday.

 “Come early so you get a good selection in food,” Katrina Jantzen, attendee, said. “And try a little bit of everything but just a little bit because there is a lot to pick from."

For 15 dollars, people could eat food from more than 25 restaurants that had set up booths. The choices offered were Italian food, pizza, Greek food, barbeque, various desserts and others.

 LibertyFest officials do not have to work too hard to get restaurants to donate their food and time.

 “For the most part, they call us,” Officer said. “They enjoy being involved with LibertyFest. I know they were calling here even within the last few days wanting to be a part of LibertyFest.”

 Taste of Edmond also had a musician performing at the event.

 “We try to have somebody every year,” Kari Scheihing, volunteer coordinator, said. “We started that a few years ago. People really like that. It just kind of helps set the ambiance a little bit.”

 Taste of Edmond was the eighth event in the LibertyFest calendar. The next events for LibertyFest are the parade, ParkFest and the fireworks show on Wednesday.

More information about LibertyFest can be found on the LibertyFest website.

Chalk-It-Up

Edmond, Okla., Liberty Fest celebrates 40 years of family festivals this week.

Liberty Fest held its Chalk-It-Up event at the Festival Marketplace in downtown Edmond Friday morning.

 “It’s just fun because it gives them a chance to be creative and dirty and see what other people are doing,” Judi Lippert, grandmother of participants, said. “It’s free so that makes it even better. It’s a good way to get into the Fourth of July spirit.”

Children and adults showed up for the chalk art competition and covered the ground with drawings of Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, flags, eagles and more.

 “Everyone did an outstanding job,” Tyler White, judge, said. “They put in a lot of effort and we had some really great ones.”

 The awards categories were best use of space, most color, most artistic and best overall chalker.

 White had to go back and forth between drawings several times to decide whom to give the awards to. The two drawings that were the hardest for White to decide between were drawings of Uncle Sam and a birthday cake, and Uncle Sam with a surfboard.

 “I wasn’t expecting that much detail in some of them but it was amazing,” White said.

 Liberty Fest added Chalk-It-Up to the events calendar a few years ago.

Chalk-It-Up is a national event that is done through parks and recreation for National Parks and Recreation month.

The next event for Liberty Fest is the car show at 8 a.m. on Saturday.  All of the information for Liberty Fest events are listed on the Liberty Fest website.