Greensboro Fun Fourth - July 4th

Greensboro Fun Fourth - July 4th

by Liv | Published on July 4th, 2006, 3:40 pm | Greensboro

It was bloody hot, and my mom who happens to wear SPF 1000 Sun Lotion just to protect herself got so mad she started ramming Serenity's stroller into little kids because she got so hot.

The good part was fun fourth was awesome. The bad part was even though parking was free, it was harder then heck to get to the parking decks since all the roads were closed.

The bad part was someone came up with the bright idea to not accept cash at any of the vendors, and only tickets, yet no one sold tickets. The good part was Libby Hills was passing out free water.

The good part was the kids area was right next to the beer alley. The bad part was I forgot my ID.

Overall... Fun Fourth needs improvement, but the good part, it was still better than working, or sitting in the house all day, and you can tell it's organizers did try really hard, and succeeded at a really awesome Independence day.

Shannon has this to say:

Shannon wrote:How badly do those Chick-Fil-A cows want to promote chicken? Well they are fighting for their lives and will stop at no costs. They hit an all time low in desperation yesterday at the Fun Fourth event in Sunny Greensboro. I saw them stick some poor dope inside of a sweaty cow suit, head piece and all, to parade around for the children in triple digit heat, not to mention the humidity.
I saw twinkie little hoochies having heat stroke in blue bikinis and cannot begin to fathom how torturous it must have been stuck inside that costume. Who was the poor soul and how much did those cows pay him? There must have been some great incentive to step inside that claustrophobic suit of torture.
Even when the cow suit phantom was thirsty or wanted to get a snow cone he had to find the place to buy some tickets just to get some icee relief. For none of the vendors would accept cash at the booths. I really think that this creative idea lost the organizations a lot of money. Even I was ready to buy the kids a treat but decided that in the heat it was too much work to walk around searching for tickets. Plus who knows how many tickets to buy when you do find them?
My son's favorite activity seemed to be painting on the cardboard maze. What a great idea! I'm even going to try this one at home.
The highlight for all of us seemed to be playing in the leaky hose water on the side of the street and gulping down the free ice water from Libby Hill. I even saw adults get in on the action over by the playground as some genius put up a walk through misting tent. Oohh, thank you!
The bounty of creativity in all of the sidewalk booths was great. It was so reminiscent of those street fairs we all love in Southern California. I saw a lot of ingenuity. Too bad my paycheck is coming in late this week due to the holiday. I would have loved blowing it on some of the adorable crafts to help support our local creative business folks.
Over all we had a blast and the only reason we left was from all the sun soaking and heat exhaustion going on. Thank you Greensboro for a great event and for a happy Fourth of July!

Liv,

Nice work; thanks for taking the time to take pics, post them, and report on it!!

Every time we go out to some event, we always seem to end up on the 6 o'clock news. If I was smart I'd start wearing a Greensboring.com T-shirt just to get some free advertising, but I kinda like my anonymity, and I'm generally not that photogenic, so I try to steer away from the cameras. However, they always seem to find me. First it was the immigrants rally a few months back. Being one of the few white people in a sea of darker skinned individuals I knew we might be a target for gringo reporters trying to get the scoop. But it was at fun fourth they got me at my worst. I'm standing there bright red, sweat running down my forehead, hair looking like a wet mop, and the reporter sees me and my family taps on his cameraman's shoulder, and although I couldn't hear it, I suspect he said, "turn the camera dude, look at these sweating heffers." Shannon was carrying Serenity in her arms, a image somewhat reminiscent of a fireman carrying a limp body from the wreckage of a building, and then there was my mom, 4'9" with a huge sombrero hat to block the sun, ramming little children with the stroller because she had heat stroke at fun fourth. My dad might have appeared halfway normal if it wasn't for Shannon's insisted necessity for him to participate by wearing something red, white and blue. What did he wear? A Kerry / Edwards presidential button. Good grief.

So the cameraman got us in all our glory, I peaked back a few times as we passed, and he continuously panned with his camera till we were out of view. It was not a pretty sight, and I don't know if it actually made it to air, but It certainly wasn't my shining moment.

I know a lot of Greensborians tend to look forward to the Fun Fourth thing every year, and I admit, it is usually pretty cool to wander around downtown and see all the neat things there. However, my family will be eschewing this year's version. Partly because my wife will once again be working most of the day, partly because we'll be out of town Friday with other branches of the family.

However Saturday, we will be free to do as we please, and it will please all of us to go to Durham for the Festival for the Eno. We've been out for the last few years. Every year, we have a great time, seeing the craft booths, listening to the bluegrass music and generally having a triffic time in the summer sun. Every year, they have some group come out and build a huge eco-themed sand sculpture, which is always entertaining to watch.

The only drawback is the garbage nazis, who are always on the watch to make sure you sort the stuff you throw away and NEVER toss ANYTHING into the bags marked "Trash." They're a bit silly, IMO, but you get used to them. :roll:

And they really don't detract from the cool stuff of the festival. So if you have a few hours to kill Saturday, and a few bucks to get in... you really could have a fun time going out there.

I'll give you 10 bux if you will address them as "garbage nazis". :lol:

I've never been to the festival, but have known lots of folks (from when I worked in Durham) who enjoyed going to it with their families (including toddlers and elementary school-age children).

Holy schnikes!!! Did you look at the list of performances??? Hobex AND John Dee Holeman!!!

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:The only drawback is the garbage nazis, who are always on the watch to make sure you sort the stuff you throw away and NEVER toss ANYTHING into the bags marked "Trash." They're a bit silly, IMO, but you get used to them.

http://www.enoriver.org/Festival/trash.html

"TRASH-FREE" FESTIVAL FOR THE ENO
CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE FROM LANDFILL
...
In 1992, the Association made a commitment to reduce its landfill-bound waste, striving to offer a "Trash-Free" Festival for the Eno. A collaborative effort of organizers, sponsors,vendors, volunteers and participants is undertaken to minimize the amount of waste generated during the Festival, and to recycle or compost as many materials as possible.

Sanjuro wrote:I'll give you 10 bux if you will address them as "garbage nazis".

HAH! I did that last year. They thought it was a fun joke.

John Dee Holeman???!!! God-(expletive), now I want to go!!!

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:
Sanjuro wrote:I'll give you 10 bux if you will address them as "garbage nazis".

HAH! I did that last year. They thought it was a fun joke.

'Cept the jewish ones...

Sanjuro wrote:John Dee Holeman???!!! God-(expletive), now I want to go!!!

The festival's info page has a list of places where you can buy tix in advance ($13, or $15 at the gate).

Looks like Mr Holeman is playing on July 4th, but no stage/time info seems to be published on the festival's site.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote: ...
The only drawback is the garbage nazis, who are always on the watch to make sure you sort the stuff you throw away and NEVER toss ANYTHING into the bags marked "Trash." They're a bit silly, IMO, but you get used to them. .

You have to remember that Durham, Wake and Orange Counties are into recycling and make doing so easy for their residents- and the Festival for the Eno raises funds to protect and preserve the river area. Not exactly a shock that the organizers want and do what they can to make this a green event.
What's the problem with taking the few extra seconds and separating your refuse? You are a guest at the Festival, eh?

C. Alice wrote:
SouthernFriedInfidel wrote: ...
The only drawback is the garbage nazis, who are always on the watch to make sure you sort the stuff you throw away and NEVER toss ANYTHING into the bags marked "Trash." They're a bit silly, IMO, but you get used to them. .

You have to remember that Durham, Wake and Orange Counties are into recycling and make doing so easy for their residents- and the Festival for the Eno raises funds to protect and preserve the river area. Not exactly a shock that the organizers want and do what they can to make this a green event.
What's the problem with taking the few extra seconds and separating your refuse? You are a guest at the Festival, eh?

Not complaining as such -- just expressing my amusement. They put out "trash" bags, then post people there to make sure NOTHING gets put in them.

And no, I'm NOT a guest. I'm a paying customer, from my point of view. Were the $15 a voluntary contribution, that would be one thing. I'm required to pay in order to get in, which sure makes it look like "admission" to me.

C. Alice wrote:
SouthernFriedInfidel wrote: ...
The only drawback is the garbage nazis, who are always on the watch to make sure you sort the stuff you throw away and NEVER toss ANYTHING into the bags marked "Trash." They're a bit silly, IMO, but you get used to them. .

You have to remember that Durham, Wake and Orange Counties are into recycling and make doing so easy for their residents- and the Festival for the Eno raises funds to protect and preserve the river area. Not exactly a shock that the organizers want and do what they can to make this a green event.
What's the problem with taking the few extra seconds and separating your refuse? You are a guest at the Festival, eh?

I dunno, ever since that episode of "B u l l s h i t" on recycling, I remain unconvinced of its usefulness.

Sanjuro wrote:I dunno, ever since that episode of "B u l l s h i t" on recycling, I remain unconvinced of its usefulness.

Giving children the assignment of sorting stuff has been a great way to keep them busy or divert their focus when you want to keep 'em out of trouble or out of your way...

Hmm... when it comes to recycling, who's being kept busy or whose attention is being diverted?

When our plans fell through for going to the Festival for the Eno Saturday, my wife and I dithered around, wondering what to do with our rare July 4th when both of us were off work. We considered going to Old Salem or the state zoo. We fiunally decided to give Greensboro's "Fun Fourth" another try. This, after deciding that the farm-themed events in Denton were just not our cup of tea.

In the past, Fun Fourth was set up around the area between Friendly Ave. and the train tracks, covering several blocks full of little shops that one could check out while looking into the festivities in the street. For the past few years, the event has moved north, to cover the area between the Historical Museum and the corner of Elm and Friendly. Smaller footprint, with virtually no shops to check out. Just acres and acres of cheap trinkets, Michael Jackson t-shirts and food vendors using festival scrip.

And several music stages. Which I thought, considering how small the area was, could not have been a good idea. With the area enclosed on all sides by buildings 5-10 stories high, the sound from each stage funneled down each street, making the noise loud and distracting.

After determining that there were only one or two vendors with merchandise that might possibly interest us, we decided to wander to the museum to see the historic re-enactors doing their revolutionary war demonstrations. Only they were all taking siestas in the warm afternoon shade. We decided against interrupting that.

The most entertaining thing we saw was when a white couple walked past a black woman with her kid, standing in line for some scrip. The kid was holding a giant inflatable alien, and he was swinging it back and forth, accidentally hitting the white woman as she walked by. The man with her slapped at the alien and knocked it out the the kid's hands. The started a shouting match, with the mother carrying on (and cursing pretty loudly in front of her 5-year-old) about her kid getting hit, and the man making fun of her language in front of her kid. So it was amusing to witness someone having less fun than we were. :lol:

Overall, I suppose it was a cool thing for kids. So long as they weren't getting in the middle of racially-motivated spats... Luckily for all, the weather was perfect. Warm, but not stinking, oppressively hot. I guess we're saving that for August. :twisted:

Two things I like about fun fourth.. Beer Garden and Kettle Corn. The museum is pretty cool too.

Sanjuro wrote:Two things I like about fun fourth.. Beer Garden and Kettle Corn. The museum is pretty cool too.

Didn't run across any place selling beer. Or kettle corn, for that matter. There was a church group hawking watermelons, tho.

The beer garden is right in front of the museum. Corner of Summit and Lindsey in front of the main stage.

But in my opinion... the biggest problem fun fourth has is that the fireworks show isn't downtown anymore. Who wants to spend the day there, only to pack up and schlep up to a high school for fireworks across town?

Sanjuro wrote:But in my opinion... the biggest problem fun fourth has is that the fireworks show isn't downtown anymore. Who wants to spend the day there, only to pack up and schlep up to a high school for fireworks across town?

Really, there wasn't anything there that would keep anyone occupied all day. I was bored to tears after an hour or so.

The fireworks were pretty good. Though they apparently had a glitch in the finale and actually had 2 mini-finales instead. :lol:

This thread makes me thirsty for beer.... and it's 10:46am.... good going SFI!