A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

Chapter 38 The Fourth of JulyBy Mrs. Dorothy Cummings HenshawI would awaken at dawn on the Fourth of July with the sound of firecrackers crackling far and near.Soon my Daddy would be urging me to hurry and come outside. He and I would stand on the drivewayand toss lighted firecrackers into the grass, and light clumps of tiny crackers woven together thatproduced a staccato of pops. Soon after breakfast, cars decorated with bunting and flags began parking upand down Larch Avenue beside the Town Hall. Until I was old enough to drive, Daddy would drive hiscar, and often another man who was a friend of Daddy’s would ask me to ride with him in his car. All thecars were filling with children, many of whom were waving flags and yelling. As soon as all the cars werefull, a ‘lead’ car would start us winding slowly along the avenues of College Hill. After touring our streetswe would drive up around Mt. Healthy, waving flags at everyone and feeling important.I remember one time after I could drive, filling our car with children and teaching them to sing out,‘Ice cream, soda water, gingerade and pop. College Hill, College Hill, always on the top!’Finally the parade would wind back to Town Hall, just as races were starting. There would be apotato race, a fat man’s race, a three-legged race, a boys race and a girls race. Big tables covered with red,white and blue bunting had been put up under large trees beside the Town Hall building. Voluptuousladies wearing big aprons were selling lemonade, pop, popcorn, peanuts, candy and Neapolitan ice cream.By lunch time most of the crowd had thinned out and I would go home for lunch.In the early afternoon, my girl friends and I would return to the festivities wearing ruffled summerdresses and I often wore a big ribbon bow in my hair. A band of uniformed, portly musicians came andsat on chairs in a circle under the trees and began playing patriotic band music and familiar songs we allknew. A stand had been set up and decorated with flags and red, white and blue bunting. Orators wouldstand on it and make speeches. My friends and I would listen to the music, eat ice cream and talk with lotsof other friends.Late in the afternoon my aunts, uncles, grandparents and relatives would start gathering on big whitechairs under the linden trees in our yard at our house, which was across the street from Town Hall on thecorner of Larch and Davey Avenues. A big American flag was hung out from our upstairs window andwe had put many small flags on all the shrubbery. Our yard was filled with white chairs and tablescovered with white linen tablecloths and napkins. Everyone gathered to listen to the music and watchfestivities at the Town Hall.At supper time my mother served ham, her delicious potato salad, pickled beets, cucumber and onionslices, tomato salad, cottage cheese, sharp yellow cheese, peach and strawberry preserves, rolls and butter,tea and coffee. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream which we had made in a freezer in our cellar.After supper friends and everyone gathered in our yard because it was a wonderful place to sit andwatch the fireworks which were going to be set off at the Town Hall after dark. I didn’t watch them there.I went over into the Town Hall lot and sat in the cold, wet grass as close as I could safely get to where thefireworks were going to be set off.But before this happened, just as the sun was setting, dozens of little balloons were sent up into theair and into the sunset. They were small paper balloons that looked like little Japanese lanterns, inflatedby the heat of a lighted candle. Dozens of them floated high up in the air until they floated away anddisappeared. But a good many of them caught fire and burned and fell to earth where they could be foundalmost immediately. To each one was fastened a ticket entitling the lucky finder to claim a box of DollyVarden chocolates! Each chocolate was a fat, chocolate covered piece of candy, consisting of a bigmaraschino cherry imbedded in white, runny candy, surrounded by a heavy coating of chocolate. In mytime I had eaten perhaps one or two of those delicious things but never even dreamed of owning a wholebox of them! It was a treat beyond imagining, made and donated by Mr. Charles Eisen, who lived inCollege Hill. Quite a number of them fell, of course, and boys raced far and wide trying to find them. Asa little girl, I never even thought of trying, but I longed for one. Eventually, in later years the custom of223