Always a good time
I hope you all found something to enjoy about the 87th annual Peabody July Fourth weekend. We found several things around here that ranked right up there in the fun category. We had a grand crowd of friends and family around and we enjoyed them all.
Some regulars from past years did not show up. We hope things are going well in their lives and it was just the price of gas or the distance of the trip that kept them away. Some new babies appeared and some former babies are now old enough to be intrigued with tossing the parade candy instead of rounding it up from the front lawn and street.
We had a huge selection of food and I am proud to say we didn't have to wrestle with many leftovers; we always try to do our part. I did discover that the younger crowd has finally gotten old enough to have abandoned the "high-noon beer-belly basketball contest" of past years. Seems their speed and hook shots have gone by the wayside while their knees and ankles determine more and more about their athletic endeavors. Welcome to my world, kids.
In the past week's opinion column I suggested that one thing you could do on the big day was go to the flea market and get all your gag gift shopping out of the way for Christmas. I took my own advice and dragged the Daughters and What's His Name on a search for treasures to be wrapped for December giving. I bought a couple of things for that purpose and then bought a stack of large round heavy plastic plates for a dollar each. They were red and blue and I thought they would look great on the grazing table back at the yard party.
Silly me. When I got them to the kitchen to wash them I noticed the label on the bottom of each plate said they were made in China (where else) and they were not to be used with food. Well, good grief. I must have missed a chapter somewhere. What else does one do with plates? I suppose there are tons of things to do if one is up to snuff on decorating and using various and sundry knicks and knacks. I am not. I'm counting on one of you telling me about food-challenged plates in July Fourth hues.
Moving back to the celebration, our guests thought the show at the park was the best ever, of course. The weather cooperated nicely this year and the Fourth Celebration Society gave viewers plenty of bang for their buck! Thanks to everyone who got involved.
We hope you had a grand time and are looking forward to doing it all again. We are.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
