By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
What rain?
Intermittent showers didn’t keep Decatur and area residents from their annual Fourth of July celebration Thursday.
They flocked to Riverside Center in their red, white and blue; they launched their own fireworks here, there and everywhere; and they set up their lawn chairs and gathered in bunches in yards and parking lots all across the city, just as though it had been a dry day and night.
Deterred? Certainly didn’t appear to be the case, despite a hard shower around 6 p.m. and a couple of rainfalls during the music presentation of the evening.
Crush started the Decatur Chamber’s festivities with a rock ’em, sock ’em plethora of Bon Jovi music, America’s veterans were honored, and 50 Cal Fireworks wrapped up the day with a spectacular fireworks show – all of which blew off the day’s weather.
The Bellmont Building Trades Class was due a round of applause. The covered stage the class built on the west side of the old city water works building overlooking Riverside Center’s parking lot a couple of years ago allowed the Crush band to perform its magic.
Battling the rain to get everything in a “go” position, Crush – in its first appearance in Decatur – was able to get started just half an hour later than its scheduled time and put in a full two hours of blazing Bon Jovi music.
The band says it is Crush the Bon Jovi Concert Experience, and it certainly was the full experience, with a light show nearly as strong as one could see in an arena.
When the rain came a couple of times, the umbrellas came out and Crush continued to crush it on the student-built stage.
When the band finished – with a large crowd of fans rockin’ in front of the stage – Lexie Lamons sang the National Anthem, preceding the tribute to veterans done by the color guard of Adams Post 43 of the American Legion.
The fireworks show began at 10 with what looked like the Grand Finale and stayed spectacular throughout a 20-minute display. The actual Grand Finale included something special: a massive fireball, the likes of which can be frequently seen on TV news shows.
It provided a masterful windup to a memorable Fourth, and special thanks goes to the Chamber folks for grinding through the weather and getting it done.
