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My Favorite and Best July 4th celebration memory is the Day My Oldest daughter came into the world which was July 4 1986. That Day was the Best Day and my Favorite Memory. Her name is Whitney.

- Jana King

First fireworks show with the baby...12 years ago!....

- Brian Snyder

Back when a few of my favorite relatives were still alive, we would all get together for a BBQ, play volley ball and go see the fireworks. Those we the good old days; but I'm trying to make new memories with new husband; my new extended family.

- Stephanie Teague

My most memorable 4th was when we had friends in town from England. We pitched in traditional American fare they pitched in English staples. A bit akward explaining what all the celebrating was about, but a great time had by all.

- Luz Langdon

All our family and friends were over for a bbq and we did fireworks in the evening

- Jennifer Barr

Lying on a blanket with my husband watching the "fireworks" and feeling some of my own!

- Kathy Music

In 1959, I was in the Army Attending Adj. General Officers school. The Officer in charge of the fort had an amazing fireworks show put on and it was fantastic. After the fireworks a fellow officer and I went to a great restaurant in Indianapolis and I had a Duck dinner (my favorite) that was cooked just right. You can't beat a great firewoks show and a great duck dinner occuring on July 4th in the good old USA!
- Robert Abramson

When I was younger we would always have the 4th of July party in our backyard. My dad would put flares in the ground, we would cook out & invite family & friends. Then we would watch fireworks by looking over the trees in our backyard.

- Kathy Harmon

I was attached to the 1ST Marine Expeditionary Force located at Al Taqqadum Air Base in Iraq. We were being hammered on a daily basis with Mortars and RPG's. Even though we had to run to the bunkers several times each day, the 1ST MEF still planned a BBQ for the 4TH of July. When the 4TH arrived it was one of the most quietest days that year. No Mortars, no RPG's. Just good food and some great times with my comrades. I'll always think about those times and my friends in Iraq every 4TH of July.
- Gene Boss

When I was a kid the park had the 4th celebration on live music,food,fireworks. After that we would all jump in the creek the water was 55 degs but it was a traditon we always did.

- Robert Fuller

My Dad and I were driving around one 4th of July and happened upon the town of Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania in the midst of their 45h of July celebration. Coming from Miami it was so refreshing to see a home town party with homemade food, church raffles, kids running everywhere and everyone was just having a great time and they invited us in like we were family. Truly memorable.

- Kathleen Keleher

Block party at the end of our street, with fireworks over the water and all the children with sparklers

- Audrey Burke

Just being outside in the fresh air.

- Joseph Kalena

We were trying to see the city fireworks display, but could not find a clear site. So my husband and I went aboard his 61 ft fishing boat, and went up into the tower where we were above everything. We had the best view in the city!

- Terri Murie

Having the family come over for a grill out. Everyone in the sun and spending time together. Those are memories you can't take back.

- Jennifer Kmita

Two years ago at a cook-out at a state park, my husband was so happy to be surrounded by family and friends. He passed away shortly thereafter.

- Carol Laskey

Sitting on our Pontoon Boat on Lake Anna with my family cooking out in the late evening and watching the local fireworks displays.

- Steve Dodd

Years ago we held a July 4th cookout at our home for the church. After eating, we played water balloons and some members actually chased the pastor down the road with water balloons. All the young ones thought that was the highlight of the meal!

- Debra Sauvageau

Fourth of July 1994 was my most memorable. That marked the last before my mother passed. A veteran, she decorated her huge oak tree with patriotic trinkets, and it was more family and friends than one could count. There was an extravagant fireworks show and a plethora of good food, including but not limited to roasted duck, roasted pig, bbq, sides and fresh fruits and salad. I will always remember that day and hope to try and replicate it for my children and veterans in my midst.

- Yvonne Allen

4th of July is more then just a time of friends and family gathering to watch fireworks. For us it’s where memories are made and we reminisce about the previous years. My favorite memory was the year of good announcements. We had everything including new homes, expecting babies, new jobs and engagements. It was nice to celebrate with friends, food and fireworks our countries freedom as well as all the new chapters in our lives.

- Allison Loesch

I lived on the Navy base in Newport, RI, as a kid and for the fourth we always went to the waterfront for fireworks,the Navy band, and the patriotism that can only be found on a Navy base. My favorite part was always the 21-gun salute, and even when I hear a salute in times of sadness, I remember the excitement of those fourth of July celebrations.

- Stacy Tessier

It was July 4, 1948, I was 11 years old; age of innocence. There was no such thing as political correctness, we just all loved our country and honored those who paid such a high price for our freedoms. We saluted our flag with one nation indivisible, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all. The picnic included water melon eating contests, sack races, grilled corn, and tables groaning under the weight of wonderful home-made dishes. That night the fireworks were accompanied by the VFW band playing Sousa’s marches. I still get goosebumps thinking of my best 4th of July ever.
- DIANE HALFERTY

I grew up celebrating July 4th in the suburbs. After meeting my boyfriend who is from Mt. Shasta, my favorite memory when celebrating Independence Day became the moment we headed up the mountain to watch the huge fireworks show displayed at the resort bursting from behind the mountain peak!

- Jenn Tidwell

The 4th of July was my dad's birthday. We would ALWAYS have a huge celebration! For his 50th we had watermelon seed spitting contests and water gun fights - it was the best. He has since passed away but the memories are still here!

- Allison McSherry

When my husband and I were first married, we lived in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. One 4th of July, we took our canoe to the Potomac River and paddled downstream to see the fireworks at the Washington Monument. Snuggling in the canoe, we watched as the fireworks lit up the sky, illuminating the city with cascading colors. The final bombardment of fireworks was thrilling with the Washington Monument in the background. Then we silently headed home, slipping through the water as lines of car headlights snaked along the road.
- Kim Rollings

My best 4th of July was attending a family reunion on my Mom's Italian side. It was the first time I met my 56 cousins and we had a family picnic, grilling brats, burgers, and corn-on-the-cob. Then we watched the city fireworks. Awesome!

- Rita Ruud

The Marriage of the (18th) Century actually happened in 2008, when Betsy Ross married Benjamin Franklin on the square in front of Independence Hall. The Philadelphia Pops played and a crowd of thousands, including my family, wished them well. The happy couple were re-enactors, but the marriage was very real, as was the history that surrounded us. We saw the remains of our first Executive Mansion and the oldest residential street in the US. We trod the same floors as our Founders and stood close to the Bell that proclaimed liberty for all. Our history yet lives within us all.
- Robert Mermelstein

Indiana cornfields, high school football fields, and a Ford Fairlane convertible. It sounds like the premise for a John Mellencamp song, but twenty years ago that’s how I spent my July 4th. This newly married city girl was roadtripping the Midwest with my husband and we spent a weekend with his former co-worker, a classic car buff. That night was spent riding through the countryside, wind tangling my hair, chasing from one football field to another to catch as many fireworks shows as we could. The America of our dreams is real and lives on.
- Felice Bogus

My older sister was born on July 4th, so it was an extra special day for my family. My dad would man the grill for the birthday cookout and mom would make a red, white and blue American Flag birthday cake. One of my earliest memories is the Fourth of July when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I remember going to the town fireworks display with the family and being thrilled at the colorful show in the sky and at all the people who had joined us...just to celebrate my sister's birthday!

- L Anderson

One year my family and all of the neighbors on our cul-de-sac put together a block party. Our neighborhood sat on a hill overlooking the rest of the town. We had a huge party, probably providing all of the town with quite a show, then turned off all the lights on the block and watched the city show downtown (about a mile away) from my family's front lawn. We're from a military town - which always puts on the best, and most patriotic, 4th of July celebrations - hands down!

- Erin Bruce

Had graduated from college a year earlier and just had a baby. Couldn't afford two nickels to rub together. Went to Shelby's Garden's parking lot to watch the fireworks. A security man saw us and told us he would sneak us into the grounds. We saw the beautiful fireworks from the waterside surrounded by trees and flowers.

- David Fagen

It was the first 4th of July in our new house and with our new addition to our family.

- Mark Ragonig

I was on temporary duty in Ramstein, Germany with my aircrew, and we were staying at a hotel owned and operated by an American ex patriot. He invited all of us down to a Fourth of July celebration and barbeque. I was truly touched by his graciousness and generosity. We didn't have any fireworks or the other traditional festivities, but we still had a special Fourth of July that I will never forget. Even though we were far from our families and loved ones, we all felt a little closer to home that day.

- K Boyles

Fireworks

- Amy Kochanowski

After returning from serving in the Marines my husband was hospitalized at the Martinsburg VA Hospital, he was there for 7 months. During that time my family and I traveled the several hours to visit over July 4th. Rolling Thunder a motorcycle group hosted a pig roast for the entire hospital over 5,000 veterans and their families. What an event my children and I were able to reunite with my husband and meet many other families all thanks to a great group of men who came to honor these soldiers. My husband and I can't express how special that day was!
- Megan Webb

We had a pool party at our place at the beach and 150 people and 3 bands showed up. The party went until 5 in the morning.

- Don Schraier

Ever since WWII, my Father had sought out BBQ whenever he could. He would drag my brother and me to some very disreputable BBQ places and we all enjoyed it immensely. After my brother married and bought his home, he invited the family out for the Fourth to celebrate - the pulled pork was succulent. The ribs were tender-succulent. The potato salad was plentiful. My Father was in BBQ heaven. For an ill man with health concerns aplenty, he lived a full life. He passed in the fall - with good memories and Taste of BBQ to sustain him.
- DONNA JUNGHEIM

In about 1975 the town of Macomb, IL, had their town fireworks display in a public park. There was something wrong with the powder charges that launched the fireworks. They weren't going up as high as usual. They were going off right over our heads! Smoking streamers of flaming colors were hitting the ground all around us! It spoiled me for every fireworks display ever since. I sure it was unsafe, but no one got hurt, and the nearby woods didn't catch on fire. I'm sure it was the best fireworks the people ever saw for the rest of their lives.
- Don Bancroft

Spending it watching fireworks with my cousins, only to find out the next day my cousin was killed in a car accident at age 16; remembering the good times of July 4th of that year.

- Jane Jakins

Going to see the Boston Pops at the Esplanade.

- Lisel Sipes

Summers at my grandparents with all of my cousins, sparklers, flags and Faygo Frosh!

- Terri Gray

My best memory of July 4th was at my folks home years ago when my children were young, we had a cookout with hamburgers, my Mother fixed her hamburger and as she was eating it kept saying it was the best she had ever ate, then she looked down and she did not have any meat on her hamburger. We have laughed about it a lot. I lost my dear Mother on Nov. 27th in 2009 at the age of 91 yrs. I often think of that July 4th. We all had so much fun.

- Shirley Choat

My best July 4th memories were as a kid back in the 1960s. My Dad and his brother were both Bebop Jazz musicians and were both born on July 4th, two years apart. So every July 4th we would have an enormous gathering of musicians, their spouses and kids. They would form a big band and perform swing tunes from the 1940s, while everyone ate hamburgers and hot dogs and homemade salads. There would be a large red, white and blue birthday cake with the birthday boys’ names on it. (Unfortunately there were no ducks on the menu back then.)
- Scott Regner

Best fourth has been with my parents, 7 brothers and sisters and their children and spouses, all on my parents mountain property with fireworks and tables of food. Near the end of the night a firework jumped into the box of fireworks and made for a grand finale!

- Catherine Horner

My favorite 7/4 memory is when our family was sitting under the starey skies watching the fireworks display at Niagara Falls. All day we had been expecting our grandpa (recently released from Rehab for a stroke) to join us. Less than 5 minutes into the display, grandpa was taken down to us by his attendant. His look of pure bliss was indescribable. As the fireworks exploded around us, grandpa moved in to embrace us in one big warm group hug and soon not one in our family (and quite a few onlookers as well) had dry eyes!
- Renee Meyers

Going to the beach when I was ten and having a huge dinner with all cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, close family and friends and then watching the fireworks show over the water.

- Craig Beier

Homemade ice cream, fried chicken, homemade pies, cousins, grandparents were all part of celebrating the 4th of July. Once the sun went down all 500 town members got together and shared the fireworks at the town football field behind my grandparents house. For a kid it was heaven.

- Angela Clark

My first 4th with my wife who is originally from Rio. We had a great bbq with our friends. We had samba music and many steaks. Just like our forefathers.

- Gregg Deering

July 4th, 1976: I was in New York standing next to the tall ships with a girl I just met that day watching the fireworks over the Statue of Liberty.

- Skip White

My fondest memory of the best July 4th celebration was when I was about 10 years old, back in 1949, and my grandfather bought some fireworks, even though we were very poor, and set them off at our farm. Those seemed to me the best fireworks I have ever seen.

- Jack Riddle

We cooked two inch thick pork chops on the grill. They were delicious!! Afterwords we did some fireworks in the backyard. Started one of the bushes on fire, but that just added to the entertainment value. We ended the night watching fireworks from three different towns from the top of our roof. I wish we had more holidays like that.

- Thomas De Vito

The memory which sticks out to me was 28 years ago. My son was 4, and my husband was in a reserve unit deployed to Japan. He was to be gone for a few months, and my son and I missed him. I decided to take my little one to a fireworks display and try to "get into the spirit" of the holiday. While watching the beautiful pyro-technic display, an announcement was made thanking the military for their selfless contribution to our country. Then the "Star Spangled Banner" was played along with red, white, and blue fireworks. So inspiring!
- Toni Davis

Being with our Family and Selling Fireworks with our oldest son Ryan

- Ron Havelka

Last year mom and dad had both been through severe illnesses and we had the best cookout - made 7 different meats on the grill, went in the pool, had fireworks, and the best part was my parents were there to celebrate the day with all family members and then dad got thrown in the pool and landed on the palm tree raft. Oh, what a special 4th.

- Paula Banyai

When I was little, the WHOLE neighborhood was out, grilling in the backyards, and porch sitting in the front later on, to watch the golf club fireworks, and set off some of our own small ones.

- Debra Sluis

Me and my mom went to a friend's cabin in the woods of New Hampshire. We watched the fireworks over Canobie Lake, the lake that makes Canobie lake park famous. It was beautiful.

- Debbie Hodgdon

2010 family friends got together - great fireworks. I made 3 ducks on the weber grill up in Townsend, Wisconsin. What a hit! Keep the ducks coming.

- Mark Brunner

Mainly just watching the kids having fun. They had a blast the first time they all got to shoot fireworks off by themselves. Everyone on our block were lighting up the sky and enjoying time with family and friends.

- Erik Zimmerman

The best was when I was a teenager and the fireworks were delayed due to weather and we had them on my birthday... July 6th :)

- Lacey Gross

My husband and I were married on Independence Day, July 4th, 1980. We told our friends and family that we were going to take a honeymoon trip, but instead of leaving home, we decided to celebrate in our own backyard. We set off fireworks, we burned sparklers, we sang songs, and we sat on our patio and sipped the last of the champagne from our wedding reception. That must have been magical champagne, because we are still in love more than thirty years later, and we look forward to more fireworks in years to come.
- Jean Jackson

GETTING TOGETHER WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY AND MY GRANDFATHER TOOK US ON HIS STANLEY STREAMERS AROUND TOWN. HE WAS MY HERO FOR MAKING THEM BOTH FROM OLD PARTS.

- REBECCA STEPHEN

In 1995 friends & I drove to Mexico for July 4th. We took my convertible to the beach, slept under the stars, & spent the days playing Frisbee & football with locals, while swimming in the ocean. Each evening we picked up items from the market, & grilled out on the beach over an open fire. Along with the Corona's, our budget hovered around $12 per day, so we stayed for a week! Our only disappointment was figuring out too late that there’d be no fireworks on the 4th of July -- no one in Mexico celebrated the holiday. :)
- David Phelps

Last year my four year old son son was being difficult on the 4th of July. He was testing my patience ALL DAY LONG. As I reached my last nerve, the fireworks show started at the Country Club. He had never been to one and became frightened. He wrapped his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist and remained there for 30 minutes. Afterwards I asked him why he did that and he said "Because you make me feel safe." Best feeling in the world!

- Dan Perusich

Ribs, ribs and more ribs

- Gregory Smith

While serving in the Peace Corps on a coral atoll in the Pacific my husband and I felt a little sad about what we were missing back home on the 4th of July. The atoll had no bar-b-cue, no parades, no fireworks. Instead there was the same fish and coconuts we consumed every day. So we organized a softball game with the villagers, enjoyed our tuna supper and watched a glorious sunset with all the colors of any fireworks display. That day, half way around the world gave us a new perspective about what is really important about Independence Day.
- April Lenning

When my nephews were still really young, I attended a cookout with my extended family in a gorgeous Adirondacks park near Keeseville. Intending just to tease them, cut and grilled watermelon telling them how good it was - to my astonishment they LOVED it and all the adults played along. Great memory especially now that my parents have passed on.

- ERIC MCCLELLAN

My Dad bought the 'cottage' at Foxton Lake in 1948 when I was 12. He spent many weekends fixing it up and it soon became popular with all the family and friends and traditionally was where we had our 4th of July picnic for more than 5 decades. I learned to BBQ there, learned to swim, had my first kiss. Now my kids are using it and have fixed it up even more. It is like a living scrapbook to me.

- Shirley Hodge

My best 4th of July celebration included a whole 200 lb. pig on a spit, a hind quarter of beef in a pit, 12 kegs of beer, two live bands, and 400 of my closest friends in the party to end all parties. It was put on by The Sidewinder Band (I was the bass player) in 1976 in Woodland, CA. It was totally awesome and nobody died! Now THAT, my friend, is a party!!! (PS: I LOVE duck!)

- Charles Webb

In 2004 my wife and my father, Fred, attended the Vail, Colorado 4th of July parade (a favorite of my dad)and sat on a patio next to Pepi's on Bridge Street. Just before the parade started a limo pulled up next to us and out popped Gerald R. Ford (a lifelong Vail vacationer)as he was this year’s "Grand Marshal". He waved at us! My dad was thrilled as he was a lifelong republican. We finished the day at the free "Patriot Concert" on the hillside at the "Gerald R. Ford" amphitheater in Vail. A Grand Day!
- Sig Bjornson

Last year was great!

- William Stanger

The heat and humidity were oppressive, but they were nothing compared to the pride I felt watching my son and other uniformed Boy Scouts from his troop lead the annual community 4th of July Parade. Following behind the scouts were hundreds of children, their bikes and wagons decorated with patriotic-themed ribbons, streamers, and all things sparkly. It was a small town celebration in the middle of one of the nation's largest cities, and reminder that simple pleasures are sometimes the best.

- Nancy Elliott

Having the same friends over each year when I was a kid, lining up all of our fireworks and shooting them off smallest to largest. Having homemade ice cream for dessert!

- Angela Ritch

My favorite July 4th celebration is always when the entire family can get together to celebrate our country's birthday. No holding back on all the red/white/blue decorations and games for everyone to enjoy. And lots and lots of various foods cooked on the grill.

- Judy Norrell

My favorite 4th of July was celebrated in Washington, D.C. about 25 years ago! Along with my husband, Neal, and young children, Chris and Jenny, we walked among the national monuments, watched the Beach Boys on stage, ate ice cream and funnel cakes and we saw the most spectaular fireworks of all times! It was a perfect day that the four of us will treasure forever!

- Ronna Farley

My best 4th of July is the yr 2010, after we almost lost my sister due to bone cancer. In 2009 she was very sick, and unable to celebrate. Being her favorite Holiday, it was hard to see her ill on chemo and radiation, even unable to walk. Thank the Lord she was better in 2010, and we are looking forward to 2011 with a BBQ she will be able to enjoy again.

- Chris Hubler

My favorite July 4th celebration memory was in the 1980s when I was working in Boston. The company I worked at was in a very nice building on the Charles River in between Cambridge and Boston near the Museum of Science. All the employees got together and spent the evening watching the annual fireworks and enjoying an employee evening picnic - we were allowed to bring our families - the building was very nice and had a very nice company dining area with a kitchen with a porch and indoor employee parking. All in all, it was a very nice evening.
- Lesley Pew

A "Thrill for our grill" includes Maple Leaf duck breasts prepared with sugar free orange marmelade and fresh fruit so everyone can enjoy - including diabetics! Different, delicious and oh so healthy to be served on 4th of July as opposed to hot dogs and hamburgers :-) Quack Quack!!

- Laurie Blum

My most memorable 4th of July celebrations were during my teen years. There was always a big BBQ at my parents’ house with friends and family, with awesome food, mom's potato salad, baked beans and strawberry shortcake, dad's ribs, burgers and BBQ Chicken... yummm. Afterwards my friends and I would go to watch the fireworks. One of the best places we would go was to the foothills west of Denver, where you could see the fireworks displays all over the city. We'd sit on the side of the mountain half the night watching fireworks and drinking beer. :)
- Audrey Bye

It's one of my earliest memories. It was 1969 and we'd just moved into our first house, an 18th century red brick colonial. We picnicked in the backyard under the majestic maple tree. Charcoal smoke, sunlight filtering through the canopy, and a nice cooling breeze blowing from off the river set the stage for a perfect day. What made it totally perfect was being able to share the day with both sets of grandparents. But, being only 4 at the time, I had to go to bed before it was even dark out. I watched the fireworks from my bedroom window.
- Michael Bennett

My best memory for a 4th of July Celebration was when my son, who is now a professional Chef, took over the entire menu and cooking for our unusually large gatherings which has included many of your duck products on the grill.

- Betty Ann Suriano

Having friends come out for the holiday and watching the parade and fireworks in Washington, Warren County, New Jersey.

- Anne Tan

My sister and I had a party for our Sunday school class at our house one year, we grilled, played a very rowdy game of outdoor Pictionary (on a large sketch pad), and various other fun outdoor activities with plans to watch the fireworks from our back yard which we termed "The War Over Winona" (back when there were three different displays of fireworks over the lake.) Unfortunately, we failed to check the date of the fireworks, assuming they would be on Saturday, which was the Fourth of July, only to find out they were held the night before!
- Jill Rhoades

The best July 4th happen some years ago during the first Gulf War. My brother Keith was a gunner in my US Marine Corps and had been oversees for some time. My mother was particularly sad and worried about him, and on that July 4th he showed up without notice for a week of leave. My mother couldn't contain her emotion, and that July 4th was one of the most enjoyable, loving and happy times in my memory. It was especially so for my mother, and she made sure her skinny Marine ate plenty!

- Brian Freese

My favorite 4th of July celebration is from when I was young. We always marched in the 4th of July Parade with the Scouts. When we go to the Park, they gave us all Ice Cream and then we went to my Grandmother's house for a BBQ and later we watched the fireworks from her porch.

- Joe Parajecki