Fireworks, juggling among Red, White and Boom fun
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By Mary Louise Speer | Friday, July 04, 2008 |
Davenport and Rock Island celebrated 2008 Red, White and Boom with plenty of fireworks as dusk painted the sky in darkening shades of blue.
On the Davenport side of the Mississippi River, families tested their physical abilities, fire safety know-how and juggling skills and bounced in inflatable jump houses in a new location on 2nd Street. Davenport firefighters gave kids fresh views of downtown Davenport from 35 to 40 feet up in the air on Truck 4, a 100-foot aerial platform ladder.
Lucas Larken and Kyle Kenworthy, both 10, peered over the edge of the bucket and waved to people on the ground below. “It felt like I could fly. But some people are scared,” Lucas said.
Eventually he might want to work as a firefighter after he retires, he said. But first, “I want to be a football player or own a zoo and then after I’d like to work for the department,” he said.
Going up “was fun and it looked interesting. Firefighters usually go up in it every day. It felt like a roller coaster,” Kyle said.
“I enjoy watching the kids and the interaction with the firemen and the kids,” Davenport Fire Captain Ron Burchette said. “We never had buckets when I started with the department.”
Kids tried their hand at juggling plastic balls and clubs at the Quad-Cities Juggling Club demonstration site. “This is really a good adult and child activity. The adults get the instructions, the throw, 1-2-3, stop and the kids have the reflexes and timing,” juggler and club founder Dusty Galbraith said as he demonstrated his skills with Chinese devil sticks. “The kids always take off and make us adults look pitiful.”
“I taught myself (to juggle) about a year and a half ago and I started with the juggling club last fall,” Isaac Bries, 12, said.
The event was coordinated by DavenportOne and the District and sponsored by community partners. Local restaurants sold food and donated part of the proceeds to area nonprofit organizations. The evening ended with all eyes fixed on the fireworks display over the Mississippi River.
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
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