THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996                 TAG: 9606300212
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH
                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

AS HOLIDAYS RATE, FOURTH IS A RUNAWAY FIRST FOR ME

If they held an election to choose the best holiday on the Outer Banks, only one name need be placed in nomination.

This candidate has the charisma of John Kennedy, the patriotic panache of Teddy Roosevelt and the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson.

It endorses the best of American traditions - baseball, hot dogs, fireworks and ice cream.

And, with rockets' red glare, and bombs bursting in air, it unites young and old, rich and poor, black and white, in a collective countenance of wide-eyed wonderment.

Madame Chairman, my nominee, from the great season of summer:

The Fourth of July.

Now, don't get me wrong. Labor Day is nice. But basically, it's an excuse to take a day off. Like taking a sick day without the flu. And Arbor Day? Plant a live oak and forget it.

Memorial Day is a marvelous holiday, but the remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price for freedom gives us a twinge of sadness.

The Fourth is just flat-out fun.

Throughout northeastern North Carolina, towns and villages will dress in red, white and blue. People will fire up their barbecue grills. There'll be sack races and softball games. Gallons of lemonade and iced tea, and yes, beverages of the stronger variety, will be swallowed. This enhances the health of all Americans.

Some folks will pull the old ice cream freezer out of the garage for the annual ritual of producing perhaps the best dessert humanity has ever concocted.

And no doubt some kid will ask his folks, ``Where do hot dogs come from?''

Trust me, kid, you don't want to know.

And as a result of all this consumption, the sale of aspirin and Alka-Seltzer will go up. Good for the economy.

After we've stuffed ourselves to the gills, we'll load up the family car - or in some cases walk onto the porch - and watch the magic of fireworks against a musical backdrop of John Philip Sousa, or good old-fashioned get-down rock 'n' roll.

Children will snuggle up with their parents. Husbands will snuggle with wives. Those of us among the unattached will simply enjoy being among friends. Good for the national sense of well-being.

And when the day is over, with the last fly ball caught, the last scoop of ice cream downed and the last Roman candle only an ember, we will do something we get little chance to do in this sometimes hard world.

We'll smile, happy because we live in this blessed place.

Good for us. by CNB