OPINION: It was a great day to be in Bogalusa

There’s something about a small town and the way a holiday is celebrated. It’s something a big city can’t touch.

Six of the best celebrations/observances I’ve ever been to were in communities of less than 25,000 population.

Sure, there were Memorial Day observances in big cities, just like there were in Bogalusa or Big Spring, Texas or Thomasville, NC … and yes, there were Christmas parades in big cities, just like in Big Spring or Thomasville … and yes, there were Fourth of July with the best of them, just like Bogalusa or Big Spring.

But there’s something about knowing a community scraped together the funds to buy the fireworks, rather than have them sponsored by some huge, tax-break seeking corporation. And there’s something about a small town when the celebration draws a big crowd … because chances are, you’ll know the local football stadium is open.

There’s something special when you know the veterans who defied all odds to plan, build and maintain one of the top 10 Vietnam Veteran Memorials in the nation, but that’s what they did in Big Spring starting back in 1990.

Bogalusa is the only community I’ve lived in where there was a Fourth of July parade … well, an adult parade. In West Texas, the kiddos in one of the neighborhoods started having a Fourth of July parade years ago, decorating bikes, trikes, wagons and pets.

Hats off to everyone who had anything to do with this year’s celebration. It was fun from start to finish. Yes, it was, as some pointed out, hot … but to those who complained, just a quick reminder that it’s July in Southeast Louisiana.

The summer weather in our part of the world reminds me of the line in “Biloxi Blues,” delivered by Matthew Broderick’s character, Eugene Jerome: “Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.”

From watching Lion Mack Corcoran put out American flags on Columbia Street to feeling as if you were on an ant hill, everyone scurrying about, working to get the parade started on time, you knew Monday was going to be special.

But it started before that, with city workers cleaning up and sprucing up as they worked to make 97-year-old Bogalusa look the best she could … and they did well.

Now, let’s move from the end of the parade to the Africa hot Cassidy Park. Yes, the weather was hot, but so was the music and activities for kids and adults — whether listening to the politicians or visiting one of the museums.

Finally, everything everyone waited on was everything they hoped it would be. The fireworks display drew the traditional “oohs” and “aahs” as the audience, whether in the stadium at Lewis V. Murray, Jr. Stadium or in a parking lot, watched as the sky changed colors on a regular basis.

Thanks to everyone for all you did … whether you picked up trash, drove a float, tossed beads to the crowd, helped plan and execute, picked and grinned from the museum porch or were simply a spectator … you did great and for us, it drives home the thought we’ve had since we first arrived in the Magic City back on August 22, 2005 … “It’s not BOGAL SA without U!”