Well, that holiday was a bummer, wasn’t it? In my 40 years in this community I have never seen it rain like that on the Fourth. We have postponed some fireworks shows and a couple of times brave members of the pyrotechnic crew have shot everything off in a matter of minutes because of an approaching serious storm. But I have never seen a day like we had Sunday.

The show has been rescheduled for Saturday. The parade will take place at 5 p.m. that day as well. Members of the Peabody Historical Society plan to be on the lawn of the library during the parade serving homemade ice cream sundaes.

Hopefully all your guests and family will be able to come back and enjoy the celebration. A button will be required to get each of you into the park and the cost is still $3. So if your guests had admission buttons and plan to come back on the 10th, let them know they need to bring their buttons. Buttons also will be available at the gate.

I have a suggestion though, even if you did already purchase your admission button. Take a few moments this week and write a check to the Fourth Celebration Society to help them make up the loss of revenue they experienced because of the rain. Yes, I know you already paid for buttons. Yes, I know some of the people who got buttons at your party won’t be back — which means the Fourth Celebration Society got three or six or nine bucks for nothing.

Be more generous than that. This is a defining event for our community. It is the 89th annual celebration! (And that is just the count for the consecutive years. The celebration here has roots clear back to the early 1900s.) Several years ago the event was postponed late in the evening and rescheduled for the following weekend. Attendance was good and the Fourth Celebration Society had already made good money because so many people already were in the park. They took a bit of a financial hit, but it wasn’t insurmountable.

That is not the case this year. So give a little more. I know they will appreciate it. Many towns host a July Fourth celebration, but no town does it like this town. If you want to continue to have a great event to invite your friends and family to attend year after year, it is time to put your money where your mouth is.

Write that check!

— Susan Marshall