Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor

The Declaration of Independence is one of the best known documents in American history.  It, along with the Constitution, defines the nature of this country and its words are what we celebrate on the Fourth of July.

One of the best known phrases in the English language is “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” which in many ways is what it means to be an American.  On the Fourth of July we celebrate our ability to live as we please.  The freedom we have to watch American Idol every week (even if we don’t admit to it), or to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar.  We can go see the new Justin Bieber movie without judgment and we live in a state where several college rivalries can exist harmoniously (for the most part).  Sometimes we forget what a privilege that is!

The last line of the Declaration of Independence reads, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”  The founding fathers were willing to give their lives for the protection of our rights, so the least we can do to thank them is really celebrate!

This July, pursue happiness and come to the Fun Fourth Festival.  Between the block party and the parade it shouldn’t be too hard to leave smiling.

There are bands and then there are THE ROGUES

The Fun Fourth Festival is in full planning mode  -- we are talking to bands, food vendors, crafters, bands, amusement providers, volunteers, bands, city staff, vendors, and oh yeah bands!

One of the bands already booked for the 2011 Fun Fourth Festival -- The Rogues.  If the 78th Fraser Pipe Band sat down with the Waterboys, the Chieftains, the Rolling Stones, and the Dave Matthews Band, and then asked some friends from a symphonic orchestra to join them at the table the resulting sound might begin to resemble the ROGUES.




Put it on your calendar -- July 4, 2011.  Its going to be hot!



 

Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations

As we begin the last month of winter, most of us are grateful that it is the shortest month of the year. Memories of the beautiful snow that fell over the holidays are replaced with dreams of sandy beaches and warm sunshine. It’s time to start thinking about trading snowballs for beach balls and fires in the fireplace for fires in the grill.

With all this summer fun, of course comes the most American of holidays, the Fourth of July. Marked by cookouts, fireworks, and parades, Independence Day is a staple of summer and certainly something to look forward to as the days seem to get colder and colder. When you are bundling up in that winter coat today, why not think to the future of how you are going to spend that happy day in July.

One of our founding fathers, John Adams, wrote about the Fourth of July, “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance…with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other…”

The Fun Fourth Festival in Greensboro, NC does John Adams proud by bringing over 90,000 people together to celebrate this great day in American history with music, food, and of course, fireworks. Seems like just the thing to think about when you need a warm memory to get you through these last few weeks of winter. So next time you get a cold chill, just think about how you and your friends will be spending this July Fourth eating funnel cake and partying like it’s 1776!

65 Days and Counting

Counting ...and counting. 65 days and counting until Festival of Lights on Friday, December 3rd.

65 Days to make sure that we have hired over 20 bands, 65 days to make sure that we have changed/checked over 20,000 light bulbs in our holiday decorations, 65 days to make sure that we have 100's if not 1000's of Marshmallows for the Marshmallow Roast, 65 days to be ready for the 10,000+ people that will come to downtown Greensboro for the annual Festival of Lights.
I certainly hope that you will be there to be counted!

Can it be time to check the light bulbs already?

Every morning I see the middle school kids patiently waiting for their school bus and in the evening I hear the NC A&T Drum line rehearsing. It must be fall! Fast upon the heels of autumn comes Festival of Lights -- the downtown celebration kicking off the holiday season. (Really, it just seems like last week we were complaining about weeks on end of 95+ degree days!)

So, what is going on right now for Festival of Lights -- a lot of planning and oh, yeah light bulb changing. We are currently:

• Checking and changing light bulbs on over 200 snowflakes, each 6' snowflake has over 100 bulbs on it. Each bulb needs to be checked to make sure its secure in the socket, does it need to be changed, any repairs to the sockets etc. (We call this light bulb therapy...if you get into the zen of the job it can be very therapeutic)
• Planning the downtown holiday decorations -- the above mentioned snowflakes, along with dozens of bows, sprays, rope lights, light balls and of course the 38' tall tree that is in Center City Park -- don't forget the 5' star on top of the tree!!
• Meeting with our volunteer Advisory Board to come up with this years -- game plan of theme, contests, bands, kids activities and what can we do that is new and different?
• Checking with Santa to make sure he has Festival of Lights on his calendar.
• Looking for local entertainers -- small bands, choral groups, street performers, etc to perform at Festival of Lights. If you are interested fill out this form.

Check out our photos from last year here

Stay tuned to our blog, facebook, twitter and website posts for updates. The countdown begins.. 80 Days until Festival of Lights 2010.