"Celebrate America" Brings Community Together

By Susan Reines
Special to The Lookout

July 5 -- Laughter and cheers filled the air as fireworks illuminated thousands of upturned faces at Santa Monica College's "Celebrate America" festival on the eve of the country's 228th anniversary Saturday.

Photos by Susan Reines

The celebration seemed to go off without a hitch; smiles were everywhere as the Santa Monicans that covered Corsair Field and filled its bleachers reveled in the last few hours of daylight and waited for dusk and the fireworks to start.

Children's signer/songwriter Dan Crow and R&B band House Brew played during the late afternoon and early evening. While House Brew's soulful guitar and keyboard filled the arena, children played in sandboxes and adults sat back in folding chairs, many munching Kettle Korn and caramel apples. "We've been here ever since (my sons) were little boys,” said Hale Hunt, who relaxed with sons Payton and Sean on lawn chairs in the middle of the bustling sports field. “It's great," he said. "I love it."

As dusk began to fall, officials from Santa Monica College and the Santa Monica City Council climbed onstage to wave to the crowd.

After his stage appearance, Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown commented on celebrating the Fourth during a time of political turmoil and division.

"Am I happy about what's going on in the country? No,” he said. “Am I happy about Santa Monica? Yes."

McKeown commended the college's "Celebrate America" festival, which the City
helps fund, saying the atmosphere was friendly to families and felt much more local than the massive, hard-to-control celebrations the City used to hold in the 1980s and early 1990s at the Santa Monica Pier.

"I think this is what it's all about as a sense of community," he said.

The University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band took the stage and played classic rock hits and patriotic marches as the sky darkened. The crowd cheered when the Santa Monica Police Explorers Color Guard joined them for the national anthem.

Multi-colored fireworks, set to songs like "Proud to be an American" and "Stars and Stripes," drew oohs and aahs, and then the crowd took to the streets, little bunches of smiling residents carrying chairs, blankets, and sleepy children back home, filling the darkened streets with chatter and laughter.