More Than Fireworks

STEP 1: Make sure the soundtrack to your weekend is rockin’.

Download this patriotic playlist and you’ll be feeling proud to be an American in no time.

1.     “Pink Houses,” John Mellencamp
2.     “American Girl,” Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
3.     “America, the Beautiful,” Ray Charles
4.     “Born in the USA,” Bruce Springsteen
5.     “American Woman,” The Guess Who
6.     “American Pie,” Don McLean
7.     “Firecracker,” Ryan Adams
8.     “The Star Spangled Banner,” Jimi Hendrix
9.     “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Neil Young & Pearl Jam
10.     “American Boy,” Estelle feat. Kanye West
11.     “Surfin’ USA,” The Beach Boys
12.     “We’re an American Band,” Grand Funk Railroad
13.     “America, F*** Yeah,” Team America: World Police Soundtrack
14.     “R.O.C.K. in the USA,” John Mellencamp
15.     “American Badass,” Kid Rock
16.     “People Got to be Free,” The Rascals
17.     “Back in the USA,” Chuck Berry
18.     “Country Grammar,” Nelly
19.     “American Idiot,” Green Day
20.     “America,” Simon & Garfunkel




STEP 2:  Be a civic-minded citizen.

Btown will be happening this weekend with plenty of community events. Get out and get involved! Go to www.visitbloomington.com/calendar for a full listing of events.

24th Annual Gigantic Aerial Fireworks Display
Bloomington Speedway, 5185 South Fairfax Road
July 3, Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
$12 general admission
www.bloomingtonspeedway.com

Race cars and pyrotechnics – everything that makes America great.

Freedom: A History of the US
Monroe County History Center, 202 E. Sixth Street
July 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
$2 general admission
www.indianahistory.org/lhs/exhibits/Freedom.htm

This traveling exhibit from the Indiana Historical Society discusses the concept of freedom throughout our nation’s history. Enlightening.

Fourth of July Parade
Downtown Bloomington, starting at the corner of Seventh and Indiana Streets
10 a.m.
free
www.downtownbloomington.com

Nothing evokes Americana like a hometown parade. Music from the Bloomington Community Band
entertains before and after.

Colors of Combustion
Wonderlab, 308 W. Fourth St.
July 4, 1 p.m., 3 p.m.
$8
www.wonderlab.org

Learn how chemicals produce the colors seen in fireworks in these hands-on demonstrations.




STEP 3: Drink and be merry.
Try these tasty cocktail recipes and consume like the American that you are!

Damn Yankee
1.5 oz. DeKuyper Hot Damn
1.5 oz. Blue Curacao liqueur
whip cream

Layer Hot Damn, whip cream and Blue Curacao in a rocks glass.

Firecracker
1 oz. vodka
2 oz. dark rum
1/2 oz. Sloe gin
Orange juice

Combine liquors over ice. Fill to top of glass with orange juice.

American as Apple Pie Martini
3/4 oz. light rum
1/2 oz. sweet Vermouth
1 oz. apple schnapps
3 dashes grenadine
1 tsp. lemon juice

Mix ingredients over ice in a drink shaker. Pour in martini glass.




STEP 4: Be safe, be smart, be legal.

If you plan on swimming, boating or lighting off fireworks this weekend, omit Step 3. It’s all fun and games until someone blows off a finger. 

The National Council on Fireworks Safety (www.fireworksafety.com) gives these tips:

1.     Always light fireworks outdoors.
2.     Keep a bucket of water handy.
3.     Never try to alter or combine fireworks.
4.     Never relight  a “dud” firework. Wait 20 minutes, then soak it in water.
5.     Wear safety glasses.
6.     Never use homemade or illegal explosives.
7.     Obey local laws. The noise ordinance in Bloomington states no lighting off after midnight on the Fourth, and  between 5 p.m. to two hours after sunset on the days before and after.