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During the Fourth, every street radiating away from the square, with the exception of the two main highways are blocked off to give platforms for carshows, polevault competitions, tractor shows, bands and the inevitable cholesterol factory food courts. I even broke down and had a piece of pizza and it was one of the best I've ever had: consider this an endorsement for Papa John's Pizza.

Then practically every open room in every public building including churches, Civic Center, library, VFW hall, etc has a non-stop series of events booked in them that range from poetry readings, history lessons to concerts and clog dancing. So an area about four blocks by four blocks is non-stop activities and wall-to-wall people. And, of course, that night, they have a killer fireworks display in a park that rivals anything any big city can muster.

The courthouse lawn is taken over by exhibitors packed in as tight as they can get them offering folksy art to more practical items, such as stone doorstops that look disturbingly like headstones with the cherished big red "N" or something else showing their allegiance to the Cornhuskers. Since I went to school at the University of Oklahoma, I have to get special dispensation from the Governor's office to be let back across Nebraska's borders for the annual Fourth of July trip. And I keep a low profile, lest I incite a lynch mob. The north/south thing during the Civil War was intense but pales beside the Nebraska/Oklahoma football rivalry.

Incidentally, I've cut the pictures into several pages in an attempt at letting them load more quickly and not bog your systems down. You folks on dial-up, however are still going to have to wait a little. Sorry.

The red, white and blue thing starts early in Nebraska	Polevaulting by some very athletic young ladies
Fire hose tug of war: the goal is to blow the barrel to your opponent's end.	No they aren't tombstones, but I'll bet those exist. Football is king in NE.
Bikers for Christ: a lot of midwesternisms combined there.	Belgian waffle and buyer's remorse: "Do I really need this?"
Anyone missing the little tree from their front yard?	Girls are girls, regardless of the locale.
Granddaughter getting started	GrandKitten
Grandson looking like he's going to be a Cylon	Any guess what his favorite sport is? Grandsoccerface
Just the thing for your...ah...your...well, you decide	Like we said, nothing if not patriotic
Glory crows. Almost bought a couple, as we're out.	Part of the Gillan Clan, which keeps getting bigger and bigger.