Belarmino: July 4: You're a grand old day, you're a high-flying day

Independence Day is my favorite secular holiday. I still get emotional with all the celebrations. My dad would tell us, "honor our flag" and "respect our country" — before either was officially his. That all-important piece of paper and little American flag didn't affect Dad's patriotism in any way.

I get upset with people who question someone's patriotism simply because they belong to the "wrong" political party. When I am at a community celebration, I can't separate the Republicans from the Democrats from the Libertarians from the Peace and Freedoms.

The Independence Day celebrations will start a day early with the traditional baseball and fireworks. Tonight, the Bakersfield Blaze will be at Thurman Field for a 7:05 game against the Nuts. Fireworks will follow.

Modesto will have the traditional parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, including a a float ridden by people who were born on the Fourth of July. Something new this year will be a laser light show at Enslen Park at 9:30 p.m.

Stanislaus County's biggest party will be at Woodward Reservoir, where there will be a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

Due to budget constraints, I will miss lying on my front lawn watching the fireworks display put on by California State University, Stanislaus. The Turlock Chamber of Commerce will fill the void with a fireworks display at the fairgrounds.

Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, the Turlock Downtown Property Owners Association will sponsor our parade, to be followed by a street fair with food, classic cars and classic rock.

There are many other celebrations in Stanislaus and surrounding counties that will draw crowds to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence 233 years ago.

Red, white and blue will be the colors of the weekend and patriotic music will be on the play lists of concerts, TV and radio shows.

Of course grills will be fired up to cook hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, steaks and just about anything else we can think of. Melons will be on most menus. Potato and macaroni salads will be consumed with abandon.

I don't think those men who penned the words, "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another" imagined how our country could grow and mature over the years, nor envisioned the greatness of what our country was to become.

My dad died in 1959, and he couldn't have dreamed how great we would be 50 years later.

I am thankful to both our Founding Fathers and my biological father for their vision. I am blessed to live in the greatest county in the world and will fervently enjoy the show of patriotism this weekend.

Belarmino, a Turlock resident, works at the Health Services Agency and is a chaplain with the Assemblies of God Disaster Response Task Force. E-mail him at RevTonyAG@aol.com.