Patriotism mixes with fun

From a footbridge spanning the meandering Spokane River, the rows of booths and streamers ran out like a child’s dream.

Here one could sample chocolate-covered berries and shaved ice and that midway staple, kettle corn. Vendors offered to scrawl your name on a grain of rice or read the future in the creases of your palm, sticky and hot. In the shade of the tarps, they offered up temporary tattoos and beaded necklaces and tiny plastic fans that whirred in the hot Sunday sun.

Jason Rollins watched his son tumble down the red wagon slide and ticked off the day’s activities – Frisbee, putt-putt golf, jumping in the inflatable cages. It was midafternoon and Rollins’ family had been at the park since 10:30 a.m.

“We’re dedicated,” said Rollins, a smiling 33-year-old former National Guardsman. “It’s a chance to be patriotic and enjoy the park.”

Hundreds of people frolicked in Riverfront Park Sunday, showcasing a cross-section of the city itself as it reveled in a warm Fourth of July. Families spread blankets on the grassy hill above the river, diving into coolers full of sandwiches and soda pop. A group of young musicians bounced across a stage, throwing beach balls to the small crowd of teenage girls who swung their hips to the music. A British woman painted American flags on the sweaty canvas of children’s cheeks.

Hours before the fireworks, the afternoon heat lighted a few fuses.

“You are not going to get it,” a mother said to her son, who yearned for the inalienable right to purchase an inflatable Spider-Man doll. “I don’t care if it only costs a penny, I’m not buying it.”

Near the Ferris wheel, Marine recruiters hollered at passers-by who had stopped to try their hands at a pull-up bar.

“That’s an embarrassment,” said a Marine in sunglasses and a black shirt that read, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

Just down the hill, at a makeshift stage near the banks of the Spokane River, two boys from Elite Martial Arts spun in kicks and punches as they chanted, “This is the black-belt school. We are dedicated. We are motivated.”

Elliott Yamane, an 11-year-old martial arts student, sliced a wooden staff through the air as he shouted, “Discipline. Responsibility. Awareness.”

Offstage, the Desert Silk Dance Company, a local belly-dancing group, waited in the wings, holding candles and tugging at their sky-blue circle skirts.

At a tent for Operation Homefront, children used crayons to draw pictures and write cards to soldiers in Iraq, a world away from the celebration.

“Thank you,” read one of the cards, “you’re braver than me.”

Jan Pennock, who founded the Spokane group to support troops, wore a red, white and blue cardboard hat and mused about Independence Day and war.

“You have to believe that what we do as a nation is the right thing,” said Pennock, standing next to photos of soldiers working on a variety of humanitarian projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Other people have different opinions. That’s fine. But this is a day to unite people on the homefront.”

Brady Newbry, 32, brought his family downtown park to begin a tradition – a celebration of July Fourth in the city park.

“I want my boys to know where we live and why we should be proud of our freedoms,” said Newbry, a friend of Rollins’. “It’s a chance to be patriotic.”