Also known as Independence Day, July 4th is a federal holiday in the US honoring the Declaration of Independence of the US. The declaration announced the separation of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain, making them their own free, united, and independent states.
Another way to look at Independence Day or July 4th is America’s birthday. 2021 marks the 245th birthday of the US.
Independence Day is celebrated in the US by holding fireworks shows. Each city and town have their own fireworks, festivals and carnivals. This year July 4th was on a Sunday so, to celebrate the weekend on Saturday, Kings students (along with Center Manager Chihae), took a trip to the Chase Bank to open their US bank accounts and explore Appleton Downtown farmer’s market. Since the summer is here and life is going back to normal, Appleton’s Saturday farmer’s market started back in June. Some students also got the 1st dose of their COVID vaccine. After visiting the bank and the farmer’s market and getting the Covid vaccine, students went to eat lunch at Bowl 91 — a ramen shop in downtown Appleton.
On Sunday, July 4th Chihae met with the students at Fox Village student housing to head to Jefferson Park in Menasha where fireworks were being held. Jefferson always hosts events for July 4th including music, water shows, foods, and games for kids. The fireworks show started at 9:45 pm after the national anthem and was on for 30 minutes. The students sat by the lake and enjoyed the fireworks. It was a wonderful day as the temperature was not hot, there was a cool breeze by the lake and best of all there were no mosquitoes! After the fireworks everyone went back to their respective dorms.
Since July 4th was on a Sunday, there was no school on Monday, so students got to relax and de-stress before going back to school on Tuesday.
It was a nice weekend and being able to enjoy life being back to normal felt genuinely nice and made us all feel grateful.
