Tuesday, July 4, 2017 4TH OF JULY SILVERTON STYLE

The 4th of July is always a big deal in this little town.  So many activities.  The parade is one of the best small town parades you will find anywhere. 

Jingles finds a shade, waiting for the parade:

 This guy dressed for the ocassion:

 

 Silverton's famous Brass Band:

 Lots of decorated Jeeps:

 Crawling Jeeps:

TOO many ATVs:

 One LOUD musket:

Me, hiding in the Jeep.  Firetrucks were randomly placed thru out the parade and would soak anyone and anything in sight:

We always look forward to the F16 low fly-over the parade route.  They were scheduled for 11:05 this morning, but never showed.  Maybe they are on their way to Korea.  Although they did make the Lake City & Telluride parades.  So, here's some shots from previous years:  

Friends came by this afternoon with their granddog, a Golden Doodle boyfriend for Jingles.  Hope she likes younger men.  Meet Romeo:

We joined our friends for a hot dog cookout prior to the amazing firework show that the town volunteer fire department puts on.  Let me tell you about their "fire-power."  From the Silverton Standard (the town newspaper):

Silverton isn’t known for its quiet Fourth of July.

And this year, the Silverton volunteer firefighters are planning to make more noise than ever, blasting off the biggest fireworks show they’ve ever produced. (And they’ve produced some big ones.)

For the first time in 15 years, six 16-inch shells will be fired, along with six 12-inchers, six 10-inchers and six 8-inchers.

“In terms of firepower, it’s the biggest show we’ve ever shot,” said Fire Chief Gilbert Archuleta.

Archuleta noted the dry weather, but remained hopeful the town may get some precipitation by 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, when the huge fireworks display gets started.

“The grass is not really too dry on the hill. We’ll water the whole area down for about three hours before the show,” Archuleta said. “We’ll be fine after we wet everything down.”

The 26-minute show will include 2,275 shells.

That works out to an average of more than 87 shells being launched each minute.

Archuleta advised residents and guests to keep their pets secure during the show.

“With the bigger shells, it’s definitely going to be a lot of noise,” Archuleta said.

He said 27 firefighters will be involved in putting on one of the greatest fireworks shows in the country.

“Last weekend we had 10 people working, setting things up,” Archuleta said.

And, let me tell you, the fire department delivered.  It was an excellent show.  

Night comes to an end on another spectacular 4th of July celebration in small town America.