Just a little history: Wake Forest’s Fourth was born in 1973

Wake Forest’s Fourth of July Celebration may seem rooted in tradition but it is only 45 years old. It began in 1973 when the loss of the college to Winston-Salem was 17 years past but the scars were still fresh and tender.

The town had recovered somewhat with a few new people moving into town and others who had left for college or service drifting back. Most downtown businesses closed on Wednesday afternoons; the Burlington Mills plant down near the Neuse on U.S. 1 closed for a week to give the workers vacations; and for many people the week of the Fourth was the usual time for their first summer visit to the beach.

Enter Jani Ali and Geri Stenzel, two newcomers with young families and old houses in need of repairs who remembered the Fourths they enjoyed growing up farther north. Why not, they asked themselves. So Jani set out with her youngest and a coffee can for donations, going door to door along South White Street. Geri took the thin telephone book and began calling everyone in town.

People donated $400 for fireworks and dozens of people throughout town thought a community Fourth celebration was a wonderful idea. If you had an idea, you became the chairman in charge of bringing it to life.

The schedule for that first day was: 8 a.m., track meet for children; 11 a.m., water show at the Holding Park Pool organized by Laura Omohundro; 12:30 p.m., children’s parade along South White Street with senior citizens in cars from S&W Chevrolet, Uncle Sam walking and presentation of $25 award to essay contest winner; 2 p.m., activities at the field behind the elementary school that included games, horse rides, fire truck rides and a parachute jump by Jerry Warren; and at 9:30 p.m., a short patriotic program in the high school stadium with the Pledge of Allegiance led by North Carolina Supreme Court Justice I. Beverly Lake followed by the fireworks.

Changes were made as the years went on. It was too hot in July to parade on South White so the children’s parade was moved to shady North Main. The fireworks were rescheduled to July 3 to allow for a postponed display on July 4 if it rained on July 3. In 1986 the celebration nearly died. The volunteer committee said there were not enough other volunteers and they could not use the stadium because of renovations. Well heck, several people said. Sue Osborne said she and others would organize the children’s parade; Pinky Cooke said the same for art in the park; and Mark Williams, the town recreation director, said he would sponsor games in the park and free swimming.

There was a Miss Wake Forest Fourth of July contest and synchronized swim exhibition at the pool until 1976 or 1977 when the pool was closed for renovations. At some point organizers stopped allowing horses in the children’s parade and the parade kept growing. In the early years all the children had costumes and walked down one by one to allow spectators to appreciate them. And in the early years both children and adults competed in many of the contests – pie-eating, watermelon-seed spitting, three-legged races.

The volunteer fireworks crews, most of whom happily had not outgrown a childhood thrill at making things go boom, began seeing what they could do on the ground in the stadium. (State law then and now prohibits high fireworks near homes.) In 1978, with a theme The Rockets’ Red Glare, they built an 1812 man of war ship under full sail, 40 feet long and 28 feet high, outlined with white fireworks. It moved down the football field while red rockets burst overhead, The Star-Spangled Banner played and we all sang along.

Another memorable show was in 1979, the 10^th anniversary of the moon landing, with the theme One Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind. The crew built a fireworks replica of the landing module Eagle which descended into the football field while a recording from NASA of the ground controllers’ voices played. Other memorable displays included planting the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1981 and a tribute to Vietnam veterans in 1985. That last night was also memorable because a 24-inch shell exploded 50 feet in the air instead of 1,000, slightly injuring several spectators.

We probably can forego some of the contests and features now deemed dangerous like the top of the fire truck rides for children, the greased watermelon contest for all ages, the greased pole with a $20 bill on top that drew all the teenage boys and young men and the greased pig that ended involving more than first planned. It ran past and almost over everyone in its escape. We did use a lot of lard and Crisco in those years. It was great fun.

It will be great fun this year, the 45^th, new to many people and a renewal of community spirit for many others who recite the Pledge and salute the flag, gasp at the fireworks and wave at toddlers, moms and dads, grandparents and dogs walking down North Main. The town’s involvement and sponsors now make the stadium show and fireworks display free to everyone, but it will still be Wake Forest volunteers who make the fun for everyone.