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There are many ways to celebrate your independence on Independence Day.
One of those ways is to create a celebration that is independent of the celebrations of people who are dependent on other people for the creation of their celebrations.
Even I don’t know what that means, but maybe things will become clearer as you read and I reread the following Fourth of July weekend events listings.
One of the best ways to kick off the Fourth of July weekend (or any weekend, for that matter) is to go see the Todd Harrold Band perform.
Harrold’s soulful originals and his bold interpretations of classics are just the thing you need to convince you that you look way cooler standing there at the bar drinking your AcaiBerry Oreotini than you, in fact, do.
Harrold will perform at O’Sullivans, 1808 W. Main St., tonight.
As a bonus, Harrold will perform starting at 10 p.m. Saturday on Scott Young’s excellent new NIPR show, “Saturday Fade.”
You might even prefer Harrold’s brand of funk and R&B to the music of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, official accompanists of Saturday night’s Centennial Wireless Fireworks Spectacular.
I am not saying there are any people like that.
And even if there are any people like that, I’m not saying they’re right.
You just might want to bring a personal stereo to the fireworks, is all I’m saying.
If you do want to hear the Fort Wayne Philharmonic perform Saturday but can’t, or if you want a double dose of the Philharmonic, drive to Roanoke tonight and see them perform in the picturesque downtown setting of that delightful hamlet.
So quaint and old-fashioned is Roanoke, in fact, that you will half expect Harold Hill to pop out of a bush somewhere and thoroughly persuade you to buy some used tubas without informing you that they’d been most recently used as planters for Bougainvilleas, a fact that will seem obvious to you a short time later when you notice the bells are full of dirt.
Admission to the Roanoke concert is $10 for adults, $5 for kids.
The festivities start early with a Fourth of July Bicycle Parade on the city’s south side.
Anybody can join in as long as they have a decorated non-motorized vehicle. You can even decorate your pet, or so the Woodhurst Association tells me.
It all starts at 10 a.m. at 5002 Old Mill Road.
The parade will conclude with “patriotic Popsicles.”
Something tells me this doesn’t refer to Popsicles that Glenn Beck has wept on.
A whole day of activities is planned at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne where the big Centennial Wireless Fireworks Spectacular happens at dusk.
Gates open at noon.
There will be kids’ games, a balloon-animal artist, a “Guitar Hero” contest and a petting zoo.
Local acts such as Hubie Ashcraft, Brian Lamert and the Dive Kings and Backwater take the stage at 4 p.m.
And at 6 p.m., country singer Jo Dee Messina performs.
Messina has had nine No. 1 hits on Billboard charts, which is eight more than Devo, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sinead O’Connor, Iron Butterfly and Buffalo Springfield.
And that’s nine more No. 1’s than Creedence Clearwater Revival and Led Zeppelin.
Messina has fallen on hard times commercially of late, but so – for that matter – has Merle Haggard.
You know who hasn’t fallen on hard commercial times of late? Darryl Worley.
That’s how screwed up the music biz is.
We shouldn’t worry about Messina, though.
She’s a tough cookie.
She could eat Taylor Swift and Julianne Hough for breakfast, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert for lunch and still have room for an afternoon snack of Cyndi Thomson.
Gretchen Wilson might have brought country back to Earth with “Redneck Woman,” but it was Messina who tilled that soil (for more agricultural allusions, see my book “Farm Imagery in Entertainment Journalism: 1932 to 1989”).
Parkview Field will be the site of some first-class, single-A class baseball Saturday evening. In addition, a fireworks display has been added to the end of the game that will certainly not give the Centennial Wireless Fireworks Spectacular any competition in terms of size and elaborateness.
Then again, will there be a full bar, Philly cheese steaks and a Guinness kiosk at IPFW? I think not.
West of the city, Manchester College in North Manchester will be having its annual Fourth of July Celebration with fireworks, a performance from the Manchester Civic Band, a patriotic kite fly and readings by a World War II vet.
North of the city, a pretty fabulous Rolling Stones tribute band from Saginaw, Mich., called Voodoo Lounge will perform Saturday night at Garrett Heritage Days at Eastside Park in Garrett.
I am not sure what the Rolling Stones have to do with Garrett’s heritage, but I haven’t visited the DeKalb County History Museum, either. I’m sure there’s a wing devoted to that.
East of the city, the Van-Del Drive-In will offer its annual “Dusk ’til Dawn” movie extravaganza, with six films, face-painting, a dunk tank, daredevil motorcyclist Henry “The Pitbull” Rife and periodic “candy explosions.”
Sounds like what happened when they started strip mining the Big Rock Candy Mountain.
Other Fourth of July celebrations can be found at Kruse Auction Park in Auburn, Riverside Gardens in Leo-Cedarville, Monroeville Community Park in Monroeville, Forks of the Wabash Historic Park in Huntington and Winona Lake Park in Winona Lake.
