Advance tickets were still available for both the Jaycees’ fireworks display and the Independence Days celebration. Attendance at the fireworks show was $2 at the gate, but advance tickets were only $1.50. Likewise, tickets for the two-day riverside celebration in Burcham Park were $4 in advance, $5 at the gate. The Jaycees had been sponsoring the fireworks for over 25 years, and the Independence Days event was in its third year.

Fireworks sales were underway in big tents outside the city limits. New items were available, and old favorites such as sparklers, smoke balls, snakes and Roman candles were selling well. Some customers commented on their increased awareness of fireworks handling safety since the June 25 explosion at a fireworks plant in Oklahoma.

Area lakes were expecting good weather and a big turnout for the Fourth, even though the holiday was falling in the middle of the week.