OH WHAT A NIGHT! Postponed Fourth of July spectacular was worth the wait

A pair of youngsters watch a spectacular fireworks show at the James W. Foley Community Center in Rochester on Saturday night. (Courtesy/Matt Wyatt)

ROCHESTER - If you closed your eyes really hard and really concentrated during Saturday's celebration of America on Spaulding High School's football field, you could almost pretend COVID never happened; it was just a bad dream.

Hundreds of families from Rochester and beyond turned out in patriotic regalia, danced about to a live rock band and gathered as one to celebrate our country on an absolutely spectacular July afternoon.

City officials postponed the fireworks show from last Saturday due to the rain, but the wait was more than worth it.

Family and friends enjoy some outdoor frolics as they listen to rock 'n' roll tunes from the Cameron Drive Project band during Saturday's postponed Fourth of July event at the James W. Foley Community Center and Spaulding High. (Rochester Voice photo)

Saturday's Fourth of July celebration and fireworks show was the first city-sponsored event since the COVID scourge began 16 months ago, and it went of flawlessly.

In fact, it was likely the city's first fully COVID-less protocoled event since the Christmas Parade in 2019.

The fireworks show got under way at 9:30 p.m., but the fun began hours before as hundreds began setting up their blankets and lawn chairs on Hugo Bolin Field.

Providing prefireworks entertainment was local band The Cameron Drive Project, which played a blend of blues and rock standards that had the crowd dancing in the afternoon sun and into the night.

Among the revelers were the extended Larson and Young families of Rochester, who brought pizzas to enjoy as they listened to the music.

AS AMERICAN AS PIZZA PIE; Members of the Larson and Young families, both of Rochester, enjoy some prefireworks pizza Saturday evening at Hugo Bolin Field. (Rochester Voice photo)

"We're having a great time," they said as one.

Meanwhile, Mia Owens and her brother, Jacobie, both of Rochester, were tossing a football on Hugo Bolin field, perhaps envisioning a day when they might don a Red Raider uniform.

Matt Wyatt, pubic information manager for the City of Rochester, said he was thrilled with the way the weather dried up just in time for the celebration after the remnants of tropical storm Elsa belted the city with buckets of rain on Friday.

Unfortunately, two food truck that had

FUTURE PROSPECT? Mia Evans, 8, fires a pass to her brother Jakobie, 12, during prefireworks warmups on Hugo Bolin Field. Maybe she'll be firing one for the Red Raiders in a few years. (Rochester Voice photo)

committed to the July 3^rd fireworks show were unable to make it on Saturday. Luckily there are several food options in the immediate vicinity.