Benjamin Franklin sucked on his pacifier, and snoozed through his big moment. Betsy Ross spurned her rocking chair, wanting instead to be held.
Media Center
Related Topics
Related Stories
Captain America, however, seemed to grasp the import of the moment — he waved to the crowd.
In the baby parade at the Fourth of July celebration in Lititz Springs Park, the patriotism on display was surpassed only by the adorableness.
July 4 in Lititz is a big day for little ones, and for people of all sizes, who come by the thousands to the park for a full slate of events, capped by fireworks.
In the past two years, the festivities have been dampened by rain, but the 192nd Independence Day celebration in Lititz was the charm. The sky was blue for much of the day, and a light breeze made things comfortable even for the Revolutionary War reenactors clad in multiple layers of linen.
"It's beautiful," enthused Jeff Rinehimer, president of the board of trustees of Lititz Springs Park. "You couldn't ask for a more beautiful day."
Lititz Springs Park is stewarded by trustees drawn from the churches of Lititz. The proceeds from the Fourth of July celebration go toward maintaining the park.
The theme of this year's celebration was an "Old-Fashioned Fourth of July" and featured such traditional activities as a candy scramble, a pie-eating contest and a three-legged race. The park celebration has survived wartimes, and all manner of tough times.
Mark Hough, co-chair of the 2009 Fourth of July committee, said committee members decided that in this particular time of economic uncertainty, it would be nice "to get back to your typical, old-fashioned Fourth of July."
Organizers were expecting a large turnout. Rinehimer said he believed that "because of the recession, people are staying locally."
And indeed, people — wearing endless variations of red, white and blue — streamed into the park all day long. They came for the traditional family games. They came for the entertainment, which was headlined by an Elton John tribute band called Bennie and the Jets. They came for the funnel cake, lemonade and other concessions. They came for the 68th Queen of Candles pageant — 2009 Warwick High School graduate Kelsey Zeswitz won the crown — and for the illumination of the 7,000 candles arranged on wooden frames over the stream that runs through the park.
And they came, of course, for the fireworks.
By midday, the outer reaches of the park were a patchwork of quilts and blankets laid out early by families, eager to reserve a good vantage point for the fireworks. Clair Global, the noted sound company based in Lititz, was to provide synchronized sound.
Wendy Kellogg, of Lititz, was celebrating her birthday at the park with her family. "My goal is to always watch fireworks on my birthday," Kellogg said.
Kellogg's children, ages 3 and 6, were wearing red, white and blue tie-dyed shirts made a month ago, in preparation for Saturday's celebration. So, too, were the four young daughters of Kellogg's neighbor, Danielle Williamson.
"I look forward to this every year," Williamson said. "It's very kid-oriented. There's always stuff to do."
Williamson said the Lititz Springs celebration was "good for morale" in these challenging times. "No matter what's going on with the economy, you know you have this," Williamson said.
Tanya Myers, whose family moved to Lititz from Boston several years ago, said of the celebration, "We love this. This is so great. ... It's the best thing for people. They need a little happiness in their lives."
Myers stood by the band shell in the park, watching as her children, 9-year-old Alex and 13-year-old Emily, each won the pie-eating contest in their respective age groups.
"It was fun!" declared Alex, his freckled face stained red by cherry pie.
"It was horrible," groaned Emily, wondering aloud how long it would take her to get cherry pie out of her braces.
Asked for the key to her children's pie-eating prowess, their mother laughed. "I think they're just maybe a little competitive. ... Or maybe I don't feed them enough."
Pie plates were put to a much different use elsewhere in the park, as youngsters used them to pan for gold — stones painted gold, actually — in the stream.
By a sign reading "Please! No Wading" (an admonition for a less auspicious day) the youngsters waded in under the watchful eye of longtime Lititz resident Randy Miller, playing the part of Gen. John Sutter in top hat and tails.
The kids were able to trade in their fake gold for a genuine quarter. One little girl said that the wading was fun, but the water was cold.
Debbie Farrell, who recently moved to Lititz from Scranton, could not get over the events in the park. "I am so excited," she said. "I've never seen anything like this. It's just what your family, your holiday, should be."
Farrell moved to this area to be near her grandchild, Grayson, one of the participants in Saturday's baby parade. Thirteen-month-old Grayson, wearing a red-and-white gingham dress, and conveyed in a wagon by her parents, Scott and Candee Marz, was awarded first place in the "best hometown spirit" category.
On hearing her granddaughter's name announced, Farrell practically leapt for joy. "I just won the lottery, I'm telling you!" she exclaimed.
On a float christened "Cradle of Liberty," 2-month-old Evan Hartel lay in a wooden cradle made by his great-grandfather. Evan's 3-year-old sister, Ella, was perched on a white wicker chair. Their float won a first-place "best float" ribbon.
"It's not about winning a prize," said their grandmother, Sue Hartel. "It's about being part of the community."
Tim Hartel, the father of Evan and Ella, took part in Fourth of July parades throughout his childhood in Ridley Park. When Tim and wife, Jen, settled in Lititz and Ella was born, "we continued the tradition," said Jen Hartel.
The grand prize in the baby parade went to Delaney Landis, the 7-month-old daughter of Lititz residents Chris and Lyz Landis, who rode a float bearing a miniature replica of Lititz Springs Park, complete with teeny-tiny candles, arrayed over a faux stream.
Delaney was awarded a savings bond; her 3-year-old sister, Avery, was the previous grand-prize winner.
The first-place prize for the most creative float went to Ethan Wolfson, 3, who rode a miniature train decorated with red, white and blue glitter paint, and patriotic garland.
Baby Benjamin Franklin — whose real name is Benjamin Reist — took first prize for the best use of the "Old-Fashioned Fourth of July" theme.
The 4-month-old slept peacefully throughout the proceedings, unaware of the stir he made. His tiny head was capped with pantyhose to make him look bald, and he was lying on a nest of white curls. He wore silver spectacles, and his float was adorned with a kite and key.
His mother, Danielle Reist, said that entering the baby parade was the idea of her husband, Dave.
"It's a tradition in Lititz," Dave Reist said simply, adding, as he admired his sleeping child, "Isn't he something?"
Suzanne Cassidy is a staff writer for the Sunday News. Her e-mail address is scassidy@lnpnews.com.
(234)
