Fun on the 4th: Local residents looking in their own backyards

By GREG JORDAN

BLUEFIELD —Watching fireworks and enjoying picnics are among the plans of the patriotic this Fourth of July, but they don’t plan on driving far to get to them.

With gasoline exceeding $4 a gallon, driving long distances isn’t something many plan to do during the three-day weekend. Local travel will suffice, more than one person said when asked about their intentions.

“I’m probably going to take him to see the fireworks in the park and maybe set some off at home,” Melinda Bailey of Bluefield said as she walked with her 4-year-old son Ashton at the Mercer Mall. She didn’t plan on driving a long way during her vacation.

“Can’t afford to,” said her mother, Vanessa Looney of Rocky Gap, Va.

Gasoline prices have made traveling to distant locations less appealing, but they have not eliminated picnics and fireworks shows that are a short distance from home.

Mitchell Pizzini of Bluefield had traditional Independence Day plans: stay home, have some family over and maybe play some horse shoes.

“I’m going to be staying off the road,” he said.

For other people, the task of earning a living continues regardless of the holidays. Mark Shrader, who had no intentions of going anywhere, planned to be reporting for one of his three jobs during the Fourth of July.

“I’m staying local and working. I’m working for the school board, the Holiday Inn and security,” he said.

The Fourth of July is always special for Americans, but it’s going to be extra special this year for one Tazewell County family.

“Oh yes, this is going to be a big celebration for us,” said Christy Rose of Tazewell, Va. “My husband has just returned from overseas.”

The place Michael Rose of the National Guard is returning from is “someplace in Iraq” after his second time there, she said.