July 4th is coming up and we are trying to make it back to Avery for the Tomato Festival and all the celebration. My mind drifted back to some July 4ths in Avery. In the early 30's our fireworks consisted of things Mom made. She would take cloth and tear it in strips. It was usually old Cotton sheets. She would make a tight ball stitching every layer, until it was about the size of a softball. She would make two of them and soak them in Coal Oil for about 3-4 weeks. She would keep them submerged all the time. On the night of July 4th she would take them out of the Kerosene and lay them on the ground for about 30 minutes. When everyone was ready for the big event she would light both balls and we would pick them up and throw them to each other. They would make the most awful fluttering sound going thru the air and somewhat awesome with the fire flying off them and drifting in the wind. At first I thought Mom would whip me if I didn't pick it up and throw that firey thing. I just knew my hands would burn off. But in desperation or fear of Mom's whipping I picked it up and threw it fast. We would throw the balls and try to hit the other ball for hours. Everyone took turns and everyone had a -----ball doing it. The cost of this entertainment was almost zero, and could be reused, but oh so much fun. It wasn't long before the store bought fireworks replaced these wonderful ole balls. Eddie M. Robinson Oak Ridge, Tn "The Secret City"

Don't know whether I'm the John you had in mind, but I was a child in Bogata in the early thirties. The fireballs sound like a lot of fun, maybe dangerous but fun, but I don't remember such in Bogata. Maybe they were strictly a family custom. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eddie" <tempt@icx.net> To: <TXREDRIV-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 1:17 AM Subject: [TXREDRIV] John do you remember? > July 4th is coming up and we are trying to make it back to Avery for the > Tomato Festival and all the celebration. My mind drifted back to some July > 4ths in Avery. In the early 30's our fireworks consisted of things Mom > made. She would take cloth and tear it in strips. It was usually old Cotton > sheets. She would make a tight ball stitching every layer, until it was > about the size of a softball. She would make two of them and soak them in > Coal Oil for about 3-4 weeks. She would keep them submerged all the time. > On the night of July 4th she would take them out of the Kerosene and lay > them on the ground for about 30 minutes. When everyone was ready for the > big event she would light both balls and we would pick them up and throw > them to each other. They would make the most awful fluttering sound going > thru the air and somewhat awesome with the fire flying off them and > drifting in the wind. At first I thought Mom would whip me if I didn't pick > it up and throw that firey thing. I just knew my hands would burn off. But > in desperation or fear of Mom's whipping I picked it up and threw it fast. > We would throw the balls and try to hit the other ball for hours. Everyone > took turns and everyone had a -----ball doing it. The cost of this > entertainment was almost zero, and could be reused, but oh so much fun. It > wasn't long before the store bought fireworks replaced these wonderful ole > balls. > Eddie M. Robinson > Oak Ridge, Tn > "The Secret City" > > > ==== TXREDRIV Mailing List ==== > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >