FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: The lasting effects of small town patriotism

By VERNON ROBISON

When I was a child, my family alternated between staying in Moapa Valley and going to my grandmother’s house in Hurricane, Utah on the Fourth of July holidays. I have very fond memories of both.

In Hurricane, the fire engine would drive through all the neighborhoods in town early in the morning, picking up the kids and taking them to the park where all the festivities took place. I remember the firemen lifting my brother and me up on board to sit among the huge firehoses wrapped up neatly atop the engine. When we arrived at the park, the firemen would help us back down again and set us free into a safe smorgasbord of fun and free activities on the lawn of the park.

Alternatively, at the Logandale Park every year, the festivities started early to beat the heat. There were footraces for every age group. Winners received money: nickles, dimes and quarters. There were sack races, three-legged races, watermelon busts and a host of other activities: a major event in the life of a kid.

In both communities, the evenings ended with, what we felt was, a HUGE fireworks display. In Moapa Valley, the whole town gathered on the grandstands at the old MVHS football field in Overton (now Mack Lyon Middle School) to watch the big show. In Hurricane, the fire department lit the fireworks off from the big, white ‘H’ on the hill just above and to the east of my grandmother’s house. So we all lay down on the cool, soft front lawn and watched the rockets explode above. The memories don’t get much better than that.

In those days there was a sense of grounding and security for young kids participating in small town community events like these. We felt connected to good, honorable people – people who knew us, or at least knew our folks – people whom we could depend upon to step in and give us a hand if ever we needed it. Those feelings were an important part of my early development. Those early experiences still affect my outlook on the world, even to this day.

Now, to fast forward a few years: my wife and I moved from southern California to Boston, Massachusetts in the late summer of 1994 so that I could attend grad school. At that time, our only child was our eldest daughter, 18-months-old at the time. We faced this strange, new place, mainly alone. We had no family around us and the familiarity of both of our hometowns were far away.

As that first school year came to an end and the Fourth of July approached, we started making plans on how to spend the holiday. Of course, we lived just a short drive away from the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, on the bank of the Charles River, where the Boston Pops puts on its annual July 4th concert and fireworks display. But that isn’t what we wanted. Those kinds of crowds posed a real challenge in managing a now-2-year old child.

Besides, I had a yearning to take our daughter to a small-town Independence Day celebration like I remembered fondly from my childhood. I started scanning the calendar pages of the Boston Globe looking for signs of such festivities. But I found nothing. This wasn’t too surprising. I realized that small New England towns probably had their own local newspapers where such events would be publicized.

So without much to go on, we got into our car on July 4th and headed north, into the beautiful green countryside, looking for a small town celebration. In New England, the little towns are close together and the narrow highways which connect them usually lead right through the middle of town.

Every New England town has a “common”: a large green space, usually next to an old stately church, located right in the center of town. We passed through one town after another looking for signs of a celebrations. but we found none. All the commons we passed were quiet for the holiday.

We spent the morning, and the better part of the afternoon, driving through the New England countryside and still found nothing. It was a lovely drive. We had fun wandering and exploring. So the time was certainly not wasted. But we were a bit disappointed to not find anything like the festivities I remembered growing up.

It gradually dawned on me that those kinds of community celebrations are really rather rare. They don’t just happen everywhere. They are actually a precious and unique thing, even for small towns. After all, these events take initiative, unity, dedication and a whole-community effort to make them successful and keep them going year after year. That kind of effort comes from a deep love of tradition, of neighbors and of community. I realized just how fortunate I had been to grow up in towns where those kinds of qualities were the norm.

After a decade of living back east, my wife and I finally moved our family – now four young children strong – back home. We came back to southern Nevada in June of 2004.

Just a couple of weeks later was Independence Day. I had no hope, after all that time, that the same kind of small town celebrations were still going on here. But sure enough, they were. The tradition was still alive and burning brightly. And for the past 18 years, my children – and now even my little grandchildren – have had the opportunity to enjoy them.

So I would just like to salute the dedicated, community-minded folks that continue to organize and coordinate these wonderful activities and events in our northeast Clark County communities.

In Moapa Valley that is a July 4th committee that has long been headed up by local business-woman Lori Houston. From there, it is volunteers from the local VFW Post and Auxiliary who perform the flagraising and flag retreat ceremonies. It is Lorraine O’Dell and other members of the VFW Auxiliary who provided a brief patriotic program and gave backup to the veterans. It is the members of the MV Rotary Club who provided, cooked and served a free pancake breakfast. It is the Parks and Rec staffers who provided games and watermelon eating contests. It is local realtors Kasen Kolhoss and (again) Lori Houston who provided decorations for a fun bicycle kids parade. It is the volunteers from the Moapa Valley Fire District who brought the fire engines for the traditional water fight during the day; and also spent countless hours preparing and executing the fireworks display in the evening. It is the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce who provided a free barbecue dinner. It is the 4H Teen Leadership Corps and its many sponsors who organized an evening barn dance for family fun after the fireworks. And it is countless other individuals and businesses who care enough about their community to step up and help support the event.

In Mesquite, the thanks go out to Carly Toutant and her R.A.I.S.E. Mesquite volunteers who started a new patriotic kids parade this year. It is the many generous business sponsors that made that event possible. It is event coordinator Nichole Burton and the other Mesquite Department of Athletics and Leisure Services staffers who threw a wonderful community pool party. It is the Eureka Resort which provided a grand evening fireworks display; something the company has done as a free service year after year in Mesquite.

In Bunkerville, credit is due to Shaye Whipple who was the July 4th coordinator this year. Also to the volunteers from the Bunkerville 2nd Ward for providing a community breakfast; Ben and Sarah Leavitt who organized foot races and prizes for every age division. A 5K, watermelon eating contests and an egg toss was coordinated by Kenyon and Maryanne Leavitt. The evening fireworks display was done by Johnny Clark, Jace Haviland and Mike Wilson. And I’m sure many others were involved who deserve appreciation for their service.

All of these diligent efforts – from dedicated people just getting things done – are what makes up a strong community. This is what sets apart small towns from larger cities with less committed paid staffers that manage things and let matters of tradition fall through the cracks.

Sadly, July 4th activities like these seem to be a dying breed in our country. In fact, the celebration of patriotism seems to be dwindling in our ultra-cynical modern world. But it is encouraging to see these things are still alive and well in the Moapa and Virgin Valley communities.

As in my childhood, these community-wide get-togethers continue to provide a solid grounding and a reassuring sense of security to local youth. That makes a difference as kids prepare to face a challenging world out there.

These events also provide a feeling of connection and community engagement to residents both young and old; which is desperately needed in our chaotic and increasingly isolated society. In short, these simple patriotic observances make for a better lifestyle and for stronger, more healthy, communities.

Thank you to all who got involved this year! May your efforts be long remembered! And may such small town, patriotic celebrations never go out of fashion in our little communities.