As July approaches, we stock up on hot dogs and buns, propane for our grills, and beer. Well, more so than usual at least. The summer is always full of activities that we eagerly await, and the 4th of July celebrations are just one of the bunch.
In Auburn, you may be planning to travel and view fireworks in Aurora, Seneca Falls, Union Spring, and other surrounding towns. You may not want to go through the traffic and the hassle of watching the fireworks at Emerson Park. You never do… it’s always the same thing. However, you know you’ll be going. You always do!
If you’re smart, you’ll leave early and spend all day at Emerson Park. You’ll bring some fishing poles, a cooler with food and beverage, and you’ll make a day of it. There is always entertainment, and you can count on that! The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has played their free concert at the Emerson Park 4th of July fireworks for years, and it has become part of the tradition for Auburn locals to enjoy their music while anticipation builds for the fireworks display.
If you’re lucky, you know somebody who lives nearby or who works at the Mobil gas station that can reserve a parking spot for you to watch the fireworks. Otherwise, you’ll be spending $5 just to park, and when the fireworks are all done and over… oh we know all about that!
Leaving the Emerson Park 4th of July Fireworks is about the most dreaded thing every Auburn local can relate to. In most cases, it can take up to 2 hours just to exit the parking lot! It almost seems busier than the State Fair, especially after the ‘crashing’ feeling of the fireworks that are never quite as good as they were the previous year.
We say the same thing every year. “It really wasn’t worth it.” Yet there is such a tradition… from the food vendors to the orchestra, from the over-priced glow in the dark necklaces you have to buy for the kids (because your parents never bought you one) to the actual fireworks themselves, Auburn has to admit that it’s not as bad as we make it out to be!
Tradition is tradition, and we can guarantee our grandchildren’s grandchildren will someday be running around the park, lighting sparklers and begging for a hot dog even though you brought enough sandwiches to feed an army. Those future children will watch the fireworks display with the same awe and wonder as you used to when you were a child, and then sleep in the back seat for the lengthy wait to get home.
If you are not an Auburn local, you may enjoy the fireworks, or you may find them to be a huge disappointment. They are fireworks, like any other. Sometimes the grand finale is absolutely incredible, others it is no-where’s near impressive. The best thing about the Emerson Park fireworks display for the 4th of July is the tradition of going, the tradition of complaining about the drive home and the prices, the tradition of running into old friends (because every one is there) and the tradition of saying the next day that you will never go again… the tradition of repeating this process every year.
For locals, it is the tradition that makes the average fireworks at Emerson Park so great. For non-locals… you may as well watch from a distance. You won’t be missing much!
