Bham Nowers are getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July. How ’bout you?
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Here at Bham Now, we want to wish all of you a good and safe 4th of July. To do so, we thought we’d share with you a few of our favorite things.
Taylor Babington—4th of July in Magnolia Springs
Every Fourth of July we go down to Magnolia Springs, AL to spend time with family. The town has fireworks and a parade—it’s really fun!
This will be our first Fourth there as a family of three.
Jacob Blankenship—walking the dog
A low-key kind of guy, Jacob’s favorite way to spend the holiday is taking the dog out for a walk.
Pat Byington—4th of July UAB Community Band concert
My favorite tradition is listening to the UAB Community Band.
My mother in law Louise Rose has played on the 4th for the past 5 years. This is a photo of the 2016 concert.
Hannah Chambley—a family tradition
My favorite 4th of July tradition is going home to spend it with my family! Over the last few years, we’ve been apart—my sister moved to New York, I moved to Birmingham and my family is in Auburn.
This year we are bringing the tradition back and heading to the beach together.
Wade Cline—all about the ribs
Wade’s favorite 4th of July food is ribs. Yum.
Beth Cunningham—family at “The Farm”
My favorite tradition growing up was spending the Fourth of July at “The Farm”—aka our family land in Escambia, Florida.
Here’s a fun picture of my sister and me with our dad—I’m the one on the left!
Jon Eastwood—first 4th of July!
This will be my first 4th of July as a resident of the great nation that is the USA, and first as a Dad to baby Kate.
I’m looking forward to grilling out with my US family, my Welsh sister and her Canadian husband. Regardless of being from the UK, we’ll be celebrating international friendship as well as independence. And it’ll be a great day to remember all of those that have made the US what it is today.
Something fun we’re planning this year—my first ever July 4th! Looking forward to dressing up our 2 month old little girl in something suitably patriotic.
Best 4th of July song—I’ve always been partial to a bit of funk. Love James Brown’s “Living in America.”
Patience Itson—swim time
This year I’m looking forward to taking my daughter swimming at my mom’s pool.
She finally learned how to swim after conquering her fear of putting her face in the water.
I am so excited for her to show off what a little fish she is in the water now.
Vicky Lewis
I am big fan of what my family likes to call a BYOBarbecue on The Fourth! The host does the grilling and everyone provides the fixin’s.
That’s what my family has done since I was kid and now I’ve shared it with my Bham family!
Cindy Martin—a family 4th of July memory
The ribs were always burned. Dad would bar-b-que them over a coal fire pit he dug in our backyard.
My brother would complain about the burned-ness, but we ate them up anyway. Dad even crunched the bones!
The American flag was proudly displayed by our front porch on every national holiday, but seemed to fly a little higher on the 4th.
At night, we’d get together with the girls down the street on Sharon Drive in Bessemer and shoot off fireworks in the turnaround. Fortunately, no one ever got hurt.
It was always a fun filled day.
Sheila McCallum—a 4th of July memory
I grew up in Monterey, California. We moved out there from Ohio when I was six and I lived there until I went to college in the 80s.
We had heard that the city launched fireworks on the 4th of July from a barge in Monterey Bay, so we headed to the beach to see the colorful fireworks reflected on the water.
What we did NOT know was that summer was the coldest, foggiest season of the year when the marine layer of fog just hangs there and you begin to question if it really is summer at all.
There we were, on the beach, there’s the barge in the Bay, and the fireworks launched with a boom, boom, boom.
Into the fog. Where they disappeared. The fog turned pretty shades of pink and eerie shades of green as we shivered on the beach under a blanket.
Isn’t this fun, kids?
Matthew Niblett—a 4th of July block party
4th of July!!!!
My favorite day of the year!
This year’s plans: My friends and I teamed up with the 5 Points South Neighborhood Association to throw a block party on our street this year to view “Thunder on the Mountain.”
We’re shutting the street down and having live music, food, games and more! Super excited for this event.
Sharron Swain—a 4th of July birthday (almost)
When I was growing up, my favorite thing to do on the 4th of July was sail at Logan Martin. I remember sailing by myself when I was 16 and someone was blasting Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”—classic, right?
Now, I have a kiddo who we like to say was born right after the fireworks—shortly after midnight on July 5th.
This year we’re looking forward to a little birthday celebration getaway. Water will be involved.
Cecelia Wood—4th of July on Smith Lake
My favorite 4th of July tradition is going to my uncle’s house on Smith Lake. My family grills out, and then we spend the afternoon on the boat.
We’ve done this every year, but I never get tired of the feeling of being out on the lake and waving at everyone we pass!
Now we want to hear from y’all—what are your plans for the 4th? Where are you going? What are your favorite foods? traditions? Let us know!
