La Cygne's Blast in the Park a fun, laidback event for families

Dressed for both the festivities and for safety, La Cygne City Clerk Jodi Wade welcomes visitors to La Cygne Community Park for the annual Blast in the Park celebration. (Photos by Billy Roudybush)

Opinion

By Billy Roudybush, contributor to the Journal

On Saturday, July 12, La Cygne held its Blast in the Park celebration in honor of Independence Day. The celebration didn't start until 6 p.m., which meant the evening was beginning to cool from the heat of the day. Plus, having the celebration in the park, people had a nice time together, enjoying family and friends. There were many laughs and sounds of people enjoying themselves.

When you first arrived, you were greeted at the gate by people associated with the city. Mayor Debra Wilson gave directions and told those arriving how to get around. These workers were enjoying themselves, dressing up for the occasion made them sparkle,

Police Chief Zachary Mathies, left, and Officer Kurtis West direct traffic entering the park.

La Cygne police helped with parking so more of the crowds could get parked and ready for the fun. I talked with Police Chief Zachary Mathies and Officer Kurtis West. Zach had lived in Pottawatomie County and knew some of my family. Kurt and his family migrated from Ft. Scott to enjoy the smaller community.

Motorcycles from the Grady's KIds benefit ride roll into the park. About 50 bikes and 80 people participated in the ride.

The police officers said the Grady’s Kids motorcycle rally would be coming in sometime soon, and the stream of motorcyclists roared in right as the celebration was just getting under way.

Tina Stillians told me all about how these cyclists were raising money to help kids in the community. They had a nice ride from La Cygne to Mound City, to Lane, Osawatomie, Parker, then finally back to La Cygne. Apparently, they had a good time.

Several vendors set up shop and the crowd took the opportunity to shop.

There were food trucks with tacos, waffles and barbecue. People did not go hungry. There were also booths for people to peruse and purchase if they desired. There was stuff from county apparel to jewelry to toy dragons. Based on the crowd of people lingering among the booths, people did their fair share of shopping. 

Prairie View cheerleaders sold baked goods to raise money for their events in the coming school year.

I must mention about one booth, at the end of the line one booth had a bake sale. Lots of cookies. Upon stopping and chatting, I found out it was the cheerleaders from Prairie View High school and they were raising money for the coming year. They did a B A K E Sale cheer that inspired those around to help them out. They had a good time.

The kids had a great time coming down the slide of the bounce castle.

Not all activities were for adults. There were bouncy castles and slides for the little kids. As the celebration waited for the evening fireworks, many of the young couples congregated around these blowups to watch their kids and share a few laughs.

Linda Long hugs Betsy Ross.

Along with the blowups, there was also the petting zoo provided by Windy Flat Farm. People were allowed to pet goats, ducks and chickens. In this one picture, Linda Long from La Cygne was petting the goat Betsy Ross (yes, named after the seamstress). The farm also provided pony rides.

A young equestrian rides a pony at the petting zoo.

There was bingo in the pavilion, and calls of "B4" and "O72" competed with the sounds of GOTUR6 (pronounced "Got your six") and Harley Bridges singing their songs and impressing those around them. GOTUR6 had a soulful sound. Harley, she just seemed to be singing from the heart.

The Ray of Hope Foundation hosted a bingo game as a fundraiser. The foundation provides school supplies for students as well as giving away gloves and caps at La Cygne's Christmas on Broadway.

Above, GOTUR6 shared their soulful tunes under the main shelter. Below, Harley Bridges shares her heartfelt songs.

All of this enjoyment led up to the final event of the evening, the fireworks. I had a front row seat to an excellent display of pyrotechnics. The finale was a fantastic explosion of rockets and fountains. La Cygnes did a great job and had a great show that I really enjoyed!

This ultralight paramotor aircraft meandered over the park.

The fireworks were spectacular and drew appreciative applause and cheers after the finale.

Billy Roudybush is a regular contributor to the Linn County Journal. His full-time job is math teacher at Pleasanton Senior/Junior High School, and as the students there know he loves photography. And fortunately for us, he loves to meet people and write stories as well.