Celebrating the fourth

Thousands around eastern New Mexico celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday.

Here's how they did it:

A day for each other

Though a ton of fireworks and grilled delights are important, Portales couple Chrisstopher Brown and Rachael Keeney consider the most essential ingredient of the Fourth of July to be each other.

"I think family's really important to spend all holidays with, not just the Fourth," Brown said.

The holiday is a prime opportunity to be around people one normally may not have a chance to see, according to Keeney.

"I think it's more important to be with family and friends, hanging out with everyone. It's a day off that everyone can spend together. There's not too many days off you can get," she said.

Brown added that the day off wouldn't go to waste, with a steady stream of food, including brisket, burgers, steak, Polish sausage, and corn at the ready.

As far as fireworks, this year's arsenal of bottle rockets and popping fireworks is a change of pace for Keeney.

"Mostly we do, with my family, fountains instead of firecrackers, so this is my first year doing firecrackers," she said.

The celebratory tone of the day wasn't lost on Brown, who cited the Fourth as a day to honor those who have helped gain and maintain U.S. independence.

"I like to see it as a day to kind of honor troops. Not (the same as) Memorial Day, but it's kind of celebrating the fact that we did get our independence way back when, and kind of as a day to commemorate any troops who are out there, especially ones who are out in the wars and everything," he said.

Beneath a shelter in front of a house off Walnut Street, Collene Baldwin and a small crowd of family and friends gathered for a Fourth of July feast.

Hamburger patties and jumbo hot dogs were protected from bugs with a clever lid of fabric and wire. Tea and water chilled in a cooler beneath the jalapeno poppers. A cake frosted like the American flag was just being cut open.

"Vernon, I was thinking of you when I made that pie with the cherries in it," said Baldwin. "You know, George Washington may have cut down the cherry tree but I made the pie with it."

Meanwhile, a few of the younger guests discussed their visions of pyrotechnics for later in the evening.

In previous years, some family members hatched the idea of irrigating a small patch of land and letting their kids set off fireworks on it one at a time, to reduce the fire hazard.

For much of the others, the plan is simply to watch the fireworks that evening from the comfort of their backyard.

Most of Tuesday's retinue was made of born-and-bred Clovis locals, with a few other guests from Portales and a couple that drove in from northern Oklahoma just for the holiday.

"This is what we do most any holiday," said Baldwin. "But we don't need an excuse to have a family get-together."

Close as they were, the group wasn't limited to flesh and blood, she added.

"Of course, we don't care. When they come with family, they're family."

Food is good, freedom is better

Judging by the gargantuan amount of food Portales resident Michele Fulcher had prepared for her family's Fourth of July party, one might assume she was expecting a large crowd.

She, however, answered that question with an emphatic "no."

"We are just going to have a little barbecue. Hopefully some friends come over," said Fulcher, who had prepared burgers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, cupcakes and corn on the cob.

The massive quantity of food came about because of Fulcher's dedication to cooking during select holidays.

"I do Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Those are my big ones where I try to go all out and make sure the kids have plenty to eat," she said.

Casey Hodges, Fulcher's 16-year-old son, cited the potato salad as his favorite Independence Day treat, because "my mom makes it best."

Fulcher said she finds the Fourth worth celebrating because of a deep-seeded patriotism.

"I hear the national anthem and I cry," she said.

Hodges shared his mother's sentiment, pointing out the fact "that we get to live how we want in a country where we can be ourselves and not have to worry about things like laws getting in the way of that."

Ella Fulcher, 6, had another reason for celebrating.

"Fire works. There are a bunch of fun kinds," she said.

Born on the 4th of July

Sally Barreras celebrated her 66th birthday on Tuesday in much the same fashion as the rest of the country's Independence Day festivities.

"Everybody celebrates for me," said Barreras, "This is my time."

Barreras took relief from the afternoon sun Tuesday afternoon under a covering on her front lawn in Clovis, watching her grandchildren play on the grass and listening to Chicano music.

"This is my New Mexico music. That's all I like," she said, sorting through a large box of cassette tapes, "I'm celebrating my birthday and my son is making me a barbecue with all the grandkids."

Barreras has lived in Clovis since 1993, and each year her birthday is a time for the family to convene from around the area - Lubbock, Roswell and Albuquerque included.

"It's a good day," she added. "A little rain or wind would be nice."

Some blocks over in Hillcrest Park, speakers blasted music from a DJ rig operated by Alfred Romero, also celebrating his birthday in tandem with the holiday.

"We've been doing this for years and years," said his wife, Margaret Romero, watching company set up the grill and young ones use the playground equipment.

Their tradition has usually been to spend all morning and afternoon with family in the park, cooking food and socializing while they gear up to watch the fireworks at night.

The music is in honor of their son in Florida this year with the Marines, said Romero, while an empty lawn chair under a nearby tree is in memory of Margaret's father, who passed away last year.

"For years and years and years he'd sit right under that tree," she said.

Lest we forget

Time spent with friends and loved ones on the Fourth of July is valuable to Portales resident Ramon Rodriguez, but he also believes one has to remember the men and women who allowed this time to be possible.

Rodriguez was holding a party for his close friends at his house, and he reflected on what he believes makes the holiday important.

"The sacrifices the military men make for us, that they have made for us, it's something that deserves to be remembered. We have fun, we eat, we have friends over, we laugh, but I feel like it's also important to take a moment of your day just to remember the sacrifices," he said.

He added that the Fourth is meant as a time to celebrate freedom with "good people. Maybe not necessarily your family, but your friends, people you grew up with, people you learn from. As long as you're surrounded by people - Americans - that's the best way to celebrate Fourth of July, in my opinion."

Joining Rodriguez at the party was Hunter Sargent, a member of the U.S. Air Force, who was enjoying a day off with friends new and old.

"I'm here with my wife," Sargent said. "I do like hanging out with all my friends and stuff, talking to new people, meeting people I didn't know were in the military. It's just a good time to sit back and celebrate with friends and remember all the good times."

No place like home

The two-story inflatable water slide was a welcome feature for the children at Tuesday's holiday celebration at Prince Street Baptist Church.

"They're having a ball," said Aulton Rose, "They have more energy than five grown people."

For much of the older congregation members, the main activity for the day was to take shade, eat a burger and reflect on freedom.

"The older I get, the more I think about what (the holiday) means instead of the activity of fireworks and cookouts and hotdogs," said Rose. "All of the signers of the Declaration of Independence wrote that document know they were risking their lives. But they did it anyway."

Rose, a Navy veteran, says he grew up with Prince Street Baptist Church. At age 75, he's had many stints outside of Clovis but never stays too long from home.

"I always came back. I don't know what it is about Clovis, but I'm like a homing pigeon: Turn me loose and I come right back," he said.

This is the third or fourth year of the church's Independence Day celebration, said Linda Lawson, a 17-year member of the congregation. Organizers have recently incorporated a reading of the aforementioned Declaration into their day long shindig open to the public.

"Today we celebrate our independence," said Pastor Tommy Hohstadt. "I know that many today have forgotten that freedom and live in shackles"

For the occasion, Rose a paraphrased a 1980 Ronald Reagan quote: "I've always believed that this land was placed here between the two great oceans by some divine plan. That it was placed here to be found by ... people who had a special love for freedom and who had the courage to uproot themselves and leave hearth and homeland."

- Compiled by David Grieder and Eamon Scarbrough