By Beth
When I look at the Year of the Birthday list, it is easy to see where some of the ideas came from. Some came from our own individual lists of things we'd always wanted to do; some are on there simply because they'd make a good story, some ideas sprouted other ideas and some are from Veggie Tales songs. For the life of me, I cannot remember where "see some ridiculously exciting fireworks" came from. So, unfortunately, I have no amusing back-story to go along with this article. Many apologies, I will try to include a witty history in my next submission.
That being said, it is important to note that the specific item is: see some RIDICULOUSLY EXCITING fireworks. No simple, run-of-the-mill display would do It had to be enormous and loud and of course, ridiculously exciting! It has apparently been a while since Lara has seen a decent fireworks display and when we were discussing where we would go to see these ridiculously exciting fireworks, she said that ANYTHING would be better than what she normally sees.
Now, I grew up in Ambler, PA right down the street from Wissahickon Middle School (hereafter WMS) and Wissahickon High School (WHS). Go ahead, make fun of the name. I've heard them all. My dentist used to call it Wissa-chicken. He coached football for our rival. Every year around Independence Day, the local Kiwanis club holds a carnival in the WHS parking lot for about a week and has an amazing fireworks display at the end of the week. My family and I walked to this every year, except for one year when I was being a bratty teenager and said I didn't want to go. I ended up sitting on my mailbox to watch the show anyway, but there was no way I was going to give my parents the satisfaction of showing my face at our blanket.
Other than that year, I remember these times quite fondly and have even gone back as an adult to this carnival and fireworks display even though I live 30 minutes away now. I still hold that they are the best around so Lara and I decided to go there while still keeping a more local-to-me show, in case Ambler dropped the ball. It had been several years since I'd been there and, as you are about to read, a lot can change in a few years time.
I should probably admit now that I have wanted to move back to Ambler for some time. To the house I grew up in specifically. I check the real estate listings for Ambler periodically. Not that I can afford a house at all, but hey, I can dream right?
We arrived in Ambler in plenty of time to park and stake out our spot. Mom dropped us off at a friends' house and went to park at the church I grew up in. I made her take pictures. We had the option of sitting in our friends' front yard to watch the show but chose to sit closer to the carnival so the kids would be able to find our blanket when they were done on the rides.
It was on the walk up to the high school that I got grumpy. First, no one would walk down my old street with me to see if the people living in my house would let me in to look around. Losers (the people who wouldn't walk down the street, that is, not the people living in my house). I had to content myself with a picture of the road sign (Foulke). The field directly at the top of my old street has been completely destroyed by landscaping. There are trees everywhere. No way you can play any active games in that "field" now. You can also see what I affectionately call "the eyesore" at the end of this field. To the locals it is the elementary school, built right over the WHS girls' soccer field, the practice football field and completely messing up the cross country course. I hate it, and I am not quiet in my hatred of it. It should be burnt to the ground. The kids can go back to Shady Grove and Stoney Creek and Blue Bell. Give us our childhood back! It was built after I left Ambler, almost 13 years ago, and it completely ruined everything. At this point in the evening I was called a curmudgeon for the first time, by Lara.
The second time came mere seconds after the first when we saw the corner field where I played many a football game with my brother and his friends. TORN UP! BIG ORANGE FENCES AND PILES OF DIRT AND A SIGN THAT TELLS YOU WHAT THEY'RE DOING. PROGRESS, they call it. I didn't actually read the sign, did take a picture, but I'm sure they're doing something even more horrible than "the eyesore" to what used to be a beautiful field for local children.
Directly across the street from this third blemish on the town is the entrance to "the woods" where much of my misspent youth took place. We caught frogs and star nosed moles, played guns and army and rode our bikes across the drat (didn't want to swear by calling it a dam). No one would go in with me. Losers.
So we walked on, staked out our spot, left mom to mind the chairs and purses and my kids, Lara and I headed to the fair. We bought tickets and split up, the kids wanted to be on their own, not with embarrassing adults. Lara and I headed to the Tilt-O-Whirl. The attendant, who was about 12, thought we were nuts. First of all, we couldn't find the entrance so he had to let us in the exit. Then we were laughing so hard we could barely breathe and spinning so fast I thought we might take off at any moment. It was fun, we rode twice that night. In between Tilt-O-Whirl rides we rode the Sizzler. That's the one that looks like a spider and one person gets squished. That was me. Poor Lara tried very hard not to squish me, but it's rather inevitable on that ride. We laughed so hard we cried and when we got off I couldn't walk straight for several minutes. We were feeling our age at that point. We'll stick to the Tilt-O-Whirl from now on!
Lara humored me after the rides by walking with me to take pictures of WMS and WHS. The middle school hasn't changed much, at least on the outside. Wish I could say the same for the high school. D hall is completely ruined. The entrance is extended and there are offices there now. The front of the school has new fancy "architecture" that is totally unnecessary. The sign at the corner now includes a scrolling digital message. The inside has changed as well but I won't go into that now, suffice to say that they RUINED EVERYTHING!!
Anyway, after making total fools of ourselves on the rides, and loving every minute of it, Lara and I returned to the blanket, as did the kids, and we sat down to wait for the show to begin. There were some funny moments with my son posing Boromir and Captain Jack and my daughter avoiding the camera and of course some excellent people-watching as there was a never-ending throng of people walking up the street.
The fireworks did not disappoint. The show lasted at least 35 minutes and I had fun playing with the continuous mode on my camera, getting some great shots of fireworks in the air. At one point three 15 foot pillars of flame shot up out of the places where they were shooting the rockets. A collective gasp issued from the crowd and we were close enough that we could feel the heat. We're not sure if it was supposed to happen but as the show continued and no ambulances sprung into action, we assume that even if it was not planned, no one was hurt. At that point, Lara turned to me and emphatically stated, "That was awesome!!"
The show ended, as it always does, with Kate Smith's God Bless America and we packed up our blanket and chairs and headed for the car. I assured Boromir that the fire from heaven was gone, he had taken refuge in my purse at the first sound of the rockets. Heart of a lion, this one. ($5 if you can tell me the movie I just quoted) One more thing has been crossed off the list. Were they ridiculously exciting? You'd better believe it! I would recommend to anyone who lives within an hour of Ambler to make the trip next year. It's still the best I've ever seen. Nice to know some things never change.