Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990 TAG: 9007050096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In California, a quarter of a million people got up early or stayed up late to watch a fireworks display over Santa Monica Bay by dawn's early light.
"America's Birthday Cake" - a giant pastry big enough to serve 25,000 people - was cut in Philadelphia, where it all began 214 years ago. Former President Carter received a medal and $100,000 award, and urged Americans to work anew for freedom and equality.
American flags, always in abundance on Independence Day, were an especially hot item this year. Flag merchants in New York and a small-town Louisiana mayor said the flag-burning issue had made showing the flag more popular.
"Some people are burning them up. We're hanging them up," said Glenmora Mayor Tyrone Dale, whose central Louisiana town of about 2,000 people flew 50 flags in a special display on Main Street.
"It's been a banner year, and that's not just a flag company joke," said Steve Sevits, vice president of sales for the Uneeda Flag company near Albany, N.Y.
Parking was patriotic at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, where teen-age attendants took it upon themselves to get motorists to park by color in red, white and blue lines of cars.
"The guests realized what they were doing, and got just as much enjoyment out of it as the parking lot attendants," said Six Flags spokeswoman Sherry Hatfield.
Spectators braved the baking sidewalks of Chicago's Michigan Avenue to watch a four-hour Shriners parade, while townspeople in Taylorville gathered for an Independence Day bash featuring a singing circuit judge.
It was hot, hot, hot almost everywhere. Baltimore sizzled at 100 degrees, and New York burned, where at 92 degrees it was the hottest day of the year as 800,000 people headed for the beach at Coney Island. It was 105 degrees in Enid, Okla.
It wasn't all fun, fireworks and parades. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Paralyzed Veterans of America and AMVETS organized a midday rally in a park in St. Petersburg, Fla., to push for better health benefits.
"We've had all we can stand. The system is underfunded and we're not going to take it anymore," said VFW Executive Director Larry Rivers.
In Washington, D.C., spectators on the Mall between the White House and the Capitol were entertained by musical performances. A free concert at the Capitol was planned for the evening by the National Symphony Orchestra, followed by a fireworks display at the Washington Monument.
In Philadelphia, Carter received the second annual Philadelphia Liberty Medal and the $100,000 for his international peace and humanitarian activities.
The former president, standing under a sizzling sun in front of a flag-draped Independence Hall, then helped city officials cut and serve "America's Birthday Cake" to a crowd of thousands.
At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home, Gov. Douglas Wilder told 48 people taking the oath of citizenship that they have a social and moral obligation to help others become free.
Wilder said Monticello was appropriate for the ceremony because freedom-loving people everywhere invoke the name of Jefferson.
"Today and for the rest of your lives you will know the joy and hope of freedom," Wilder said. "This morning, your rights as an American citizen and a human being are being recognized."
by CNB