Rothwell Park busy with holiday activities

The Fourth of July is a holiday to take time to remember that we are free and what it has taken to get that way. But it is a fun day too and lots of people were having fun in Rothwell Park Sunday.

Rothwell Park has long been host to a good fireworks display. Families spent the day together at home, eating barbecue burgers and chicken, shooting bottle rockets and Black Cats, then headed out to the park, or somewhere near it, to watch the show.

A few years ago, the Moberly Community Band was formed and it added musical entertainment to the list of things to do on the Fourth. But in the early years of its formation, it played early with a few hours in between to wait for dark – and the really big show.

This year Rothwell Park was filled with people early in the day and they found plenty to do before the fireworks went off.

There are barbecue grills scattered throughout the Park and they were taken advantage of. Cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, RV’s, motorcycles and other motorized vehicles parked in the grass across from the dam. Families barbecued, played cards, and just generally spent time together. There were many fishing lines in and out of the lake. The Magic City Line mini train opened its extended track and celebrated its eighth year in operation.

Organized fun started around 6 p.m. with lots of participants. Near the dam, Parks Director Mike Bork and several of his loyal employees supervised hula hoop contests, egg tosses and the strongly competitive paddleboat races. Around the trail, it was a more relaxed atmosphere as people brought their lawn chairs to listen to the Community Band. Led by Jordan Perry, who is head band director at Moberly High School, the band is in its ninth year of existence and is growing in numbers and prowess.

And finally dusk arrived and more people came to the park, finding their perennial favorite fireworks-watching spot. And they were not disappointed. Bursts of multi-colored light, even a smiley face filled the night sky as did the oohs and aahs of the spectators.

Sometimes we grumble at paying the high taxes in Moberly but holidays like Sunday help us see the benefits that are available to us in facilities such as Rothwell Park.