Lawrence residents Donna Henry and Alice Woodsum see July 4 as an opportunity to recognize and celebrate America’s independence.

“It’s a chance to be patriotic and think about our history,” Woodsum said.

But the two women also saw it as a chance to see the city’s night sky light up with flashes of red, blue, silver and gold at the annual Fourth of July fireworks show hosted by the Lawrence Jaycees.

“It’s a really pretty show, and the location is great,” Henry said while sitting in a lawn chair at Burcham Park. She and Woodsum set their chairs up to look out on the Kansas River.

More than 5,000 people attended the event, which has been held for about 50 years. Some came early to get a good spot and hear live music from the Ready Brothers Band and The Prairie Acre.

The Jaycees had about $12,000 to work with this year for the event – with a $7,000 donation from Emprise Bank and a $5,000 donation from the city of Lawrence. Gary Saathoff, president of the Lawrence Jaycees, said they had about $1,000 more this year compared with last. That amounted to about 150 more shells set off. The grand finale alone involved 400 shells, he said.

“The show is great,” Saathoff said. “But probably the best part for me is when it’s all over and said and done and the crowd is cheering.”

Early in the day

Many spent Independence Day with family and friends. Some held get-togethers at home, cooking out and setting off fireworks. Others opted to visit the Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, 727 Ky.

Both the outdoor and indoor aquatic centers were open for family swim Monday.

Lawrence resident Mary Morningstar said it was fairly typical for her and her children – Alex, 9, Ellie, 7, and Mariah, 6 – to spend time at the public pool on the Fourth of July.

“Last year, it rained,” she said. “But coming to the pool and sticking around Lawrence and seeing the fireworks at night is pretty much how we spend the day.”

The Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center celebrated the Fourth of July with its first-ever Aquacarnival. The event included games, prizes, face painting and swimming from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.

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Jai Hoyer, aquatics programmer for the city of Lawrence, said attendance was somewhat low at the Aquacarnival. But she noted it was the first time for the event.

“We’ve never done any type of extra things on the Fourth, and we wanted to offer something,” Hoyer said. “It is a little slow, but I think it’s a nice, relaxing day for everyone here.”

Injuries and calls

America’s Independence Day in Douglas County did have some problems.

By 9:30 p.m., five people had gone to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with injuries from fireworks, said a nursing supervisor, who couldn’t discuss the cases, but said one person did have some fairly serious injuries. She said more information should be available today.

Police scanners were busy reporting people shooting off bottle rockets and other illegal fireworks within city limits.

A Douglas County Emergency dispatcher reported that between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m., dispatchers handled 91 calls relating to fireworks being set off in the city limits.