43
Independence Day
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
If people are feeling down this Independence Day weekend because of high gas prices, economic downturn and the war in Iraq, it was difficult to tell on the faces of many attending a pair of parades honoring the nation’s start.
Such worries seemed to have been sidelined as thousands of people lined each of the routes Friday to welcome the annual Austintown and Canfield Fourth of July parades.
Gallery
“On the whole, I feel great about our country,” said Paul Wolfe of Boardman, whose 3-year-old daughter, Ava, was in the Canfield parade. “I’ve been to Third World countries, and it makes you feel good about what we have.”
Wolfe, a construction worker, added that he hopes issues of importance, instead of partisan politics, will be in sharper focus by the November presidential election.
Others, such as Carlo Agostinelli, expressed concerns about the record fuel prices, saying that they affect nearly every facet of the economy and people’s lives, such as food and entertainment.
“At least things like [the parade] keep people’s morale up,’ said Agostinelli’s girlfriend, Michelle Lodyn of Boardman, adding that the nation‘s economic health has nearly always been cyclical.
The high cost of energy and the slumping housing market were far from the mind of Agostinelli’s 7-year-old son, Vincent, a second-grade pupil at St. Charles School in Boardman.
Catching candy, seeing his friends in the parade walk by and watching the bands and animals were his main interests, Vincent said.
The parade got under way at the Canfield Fairgrounds and ended about a half-mile later near the Canfield Green, the site of numerous activities and games for children. They included face-painting, a magic show, pony rides and people dressed as clowns.
Providing the entertainment at the gazebo was the Youngstown Symphonic Band, which played about 90 minutes’ worth of patriotic songs, marches and other numbers.
In Austintown, feelings of camaraderie and celebration permeated the air as well, and several people’s feelings and concerns seemed about the same regarding challenges the nation is facing.
Janice Dunn worried about the possibility of services’ being cut for her 15-year-old son, Sean, who was diagnosed with autism and attends the Potential Development Center in Youngstown. Nevertheless, she remains optimistic that the 2008 presidential election will aid an economic turnaround.
“We definitely need something major to change,” added Dunn, who also came with several brothers, sisters and other relatives.
Several thousand people cheered as the procession began near Kirk and Raccoon roads and proceeded to Austintown Fitch High School. More than 70 units participated, a few organizers estimated.
Cheering and waving to parade participants is nothing new to Dunn or Dave Burke and his sister, Michelle, all three of whom have attended 10 years or more.
The reasons for the record gas prices are multi-faceted, having to do with market speculation, Environmental Protection Agency restrictions and other factors, opined Burke, who also came with his mother, Maureen Burke, and other family members.
The biggest problem the U.S. has to deal with is its debt, he continued. Nevertheless, positive developments are occurring that will likely prove beneficial to the Mahoning Valley, such as smaller cars being built at the General Motors Lordstown plant and the hiring of more workers there, said Burke, whose 14-year-old daughter, Morgan, was in the parade.