Friends and family gathered in droves Friday afternoon for Cortez’s Fourth of July event at Parque de Vida, departing from the previously more informal celebrations of independence, but focused on safety and fun.
While Fourth of July fireworks have been a time-honored part of Cortez’s patriotic celebration, this year had a higher level of coordination that went beyond just the nighttime sky show, with more structured events including live music, a beer garden and car show.
On future Independence Days, Cortez locals may get more out-of-towners yet.
“Longer term, my goal, my hope is that this becomes the Fourth of July hub for the Four Corners,” said Creighton Wright, Cortez Parks and Recreation director.
As crowds trickled into the park, many settled themselves under shaded canopies, with lawn chairs and barbecue setups perched along the southern edge of Parque de Vida at Montezuma Avenue. Gatherers had panoramic views of the open sky to watch the evening’s fireworks.
Previous years did not consist of many plans guiding the day’s celebration other than fireworks. But this year more planning was taken on, including expanded space out on the field for attendees, he said.
With more structure came more safety and emergency management personnel this year, he said, a year after gunshots fired into the air near the skate park prematurely ended the fireworks show.
But Friday’s celebration wasn’t without at least one hiccup. Safety included ensuring food vendors were properly licensed, Wright said, along with “discouraging unsanctioned vendors.”
Wright said that as 2 p.m., four of these unofficial vendors had been asked to leave.
Beyond safety, the city also took new steps by partnering with Fundamental Needs, a local nonprofit that aids undeserved communities in Navajo Nation and rural Colorado. A highlight of the day’s events included a concert and beer garden set up by the nonprofit.
Justice Ramos, executive director of Fundamental Needs, like many who gathered that Friday, were used to showing up solely for the fireworks in past years.
“We’ve always had a long-standing tradition with our family,” Ramos said, while one of the day’s live bands, “the Moetones,” played country rock ’n’ roll in the background. “Everyone would meet on the Fourth of July, and we’d come watch the fireworks.”
Ramos agreed that there were additional efforts to structure the event this year, especially after last year’s emergency incidents.
By coordinating live bands and a beer garden, Fundamental Needs was taking on some share of the labor that goes into such a packed day, sometimes too much for one city and its various departments to handle alone.
America, after all, is the United States.
And Americans love their cars, too.
Just west of Parque de Vida was a car show, put on by BumzArodn. Crowds leisurely strolled by looking at the cars while more canopies of families and friends stationed themselves on the grass.
The colorful display of cars and a few motorcycles offered a variety of behind-the-wheel delight. A 1938 Plymouth truck and a 1961 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia glistened in the southwest sun, while a 2000 Buick LeSabre and 2014 Scion FR-S beckoned car enthusiasts to the driver’s seat.
“America is freedom and I’m pretty sure everyone of these rides shows it,” said Jessica Rushing, part of the BumzArodn team that organized the car show.
For Linley Leonard, caretaker of an 1981 Cadillac Eldorado in the car show and a born and raised Cortez resident who served overseas in Vietnam, the more formally organized Fourth of July was a welcome sight to embrace.
But it was also “absolutely overdue,” he said.
To top off the celebration were Cortez fireworks; grand as ever.
The pyrotechnics began blasting into the sky just after 9 p.m., as Parque de Vida had filled with an evening crowd of ready onlookers.
Cascades and bursts, sparkles and twists, even the periodic fireball – the fireworks worked their magic as the crowd roared with excitement and watched in awe, with the evening show ending around 9:30 p.m.
As the show goers left and the night ended, traffic congested on roads departing from the celebration. Arriving home, the after show went on in some parts of town. Cortez’s residents would very well be likely to hear rogue fireworks shot into the sky from the city’s homemade pyrotechnicians.
