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Thursday, July 3, 2003 - 5:48 p.m.

It's July 4th everywhere you go

Five years ago, I was in Maryland for the 4th. It's one of the few 4th of Julys I've spent away from Red Bank, where we'd always go see the elaborate display of fireworks over the Navesink. I haven't been in years, though � in fact, I think the last time I joined the crowds at Marine Park was 1997, my last summer in college. I could've gone one of the years I was working at the Press, but it ended up raining � pouring � hours beforehand, and we bagged it, instead drinking at my parents' house and then at a bar since many of my college friends had come for the weekend.

In high school, the Red Bank fireworks night was always an event. During the early years, a group of us would join my friend Joe and his family, who always got there around 5 or 6 p.m. to stake out a prime spot near the water for the show that wouldn't begin until nearly 10. It was worth it: There was always music coming from the gazebo nearby, there were plenty of food � junk food � vendors and you always looked for all your friends whom you knew were there but didn't know when or where they'd be hanging out. And you always found them anyway. (This was before everyone and their sister had cell phones.)

The only other 4th I spent away from New Jersey was in 1990, when we had just landed in L.A. for our two-week family trip to California. On the 4th (or maybe the 3rd?), we went to the Disney show at the Hollywood Bowl and they brought Herbie the Love Bug out onto the stage. That was sweet.

I always loved the 4th of July because it always just seemed like a date set aside for a parade, a picnic, a party. Think about it: The old-timey scenes in movies where the mayor wears a sash and top hat while he watches the parade � with the high school band leading the way � march down Main St. A town festival and parties would no doubt follow. I love the camaraderie of a backyard barbecue, of the noise of the conversations carrying over the fence or the hedges into the next yard, and the neighbors not caring. Fireworks go off � both at the official town display and the various private (sometimes illegal) bottle rockets and sparklers somewhere down the block � and no one jumps after a while.

Even if we don't acknowledge what the 4th of July is supposed to stand for, we honor it with those picnics and parties � because we have the freedom to do so. It's been 227 years since the Declaration of Independence was presented in a sweltering meeting room inside Independence Hall on a muggy Philadelphia day, and while America has battled and struggled through a lot, it's still here and still strong.

While Christmas away from home may tend to not feel like Christmas, just as Thanksgivings can and probably birthdays too, the 4th of July is one of those holidays that has the same feeling anywhere around the country. The celebrations might be different, the traditions may vary, but the basics are the same: fireworks, barbecues, picnics, backyards, beer, friends.

Enjoy yours.

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