July 4th Memories, The World's Fair

I grew up in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, New York; at thirteen we moved to Great Neck, which, although just a few miles to the east was a totally different world. Even though contemporaries write on facebook pages about all sorts of July 4th events and customs in  BPG, I don't really have memories of any. And for some strange reason, even though I always attended all sorts of camps, I don't remember anything.

The big standout in my memory of July 4th is from the 1964-5 World's Fair, which was my favorite place to be as a teenager. The LIRR's Northern Line is pretty short and boring, but during those two years it was the greatest in the world, because in barely fifteen minutes you could get from horrendous Great Neck to the glorious grounds of the World's Fair, a perfect wonderland for a teen like myself. And it was there at the where I have my first memories of a totally stupendous fireworks display one 4th of July.

This was the location. As soon as I saw this photo on Wikipedia, I remembered.

Fountains and a reflecting pool mark the approach to the Unisphere
By Father of JGKlein, used with permission - Father of JGKlein, used with permission, Public Domain, Link

I don't have any pictures of the fireworks and don't have time for an extensive search online. Actually, I don't have any pictures of myself at the World's Fair, even though I must have gone there well over a dozen times, probably lots more. In those days we didn't take too many, and it cost money to develop and print them.

My parents considered the World's Fair to be a "safe place," and they let me and my brother go alone on the second day it was open. We had a wonderful time. And no matter how many times I went, I never felt like I had seen too much of it or all there was to see.

Each visit had a different focus. One time I went with a whole bunch of cousins, including one visiting from Florida in for a different cousin's wedding. We had such a great time bonding, ignoring the age differences.

At that point in life, it never occurred to me that within a few years I'd be leaving America and become an Israeli.

And All I Did Was Grimace and Mutter

Here's my husband's report.

We were at the United States Jerusalem Consulate's "July 4th" celebration. We've been invited for quite a few years, at least fifteen, if I'm not mistaken.

In the early years, we were among the very few blatantly (in the uniform of kippah for him and hair-covering for her) Orthodox Jewish attendees. Most years there was a "kosher table," but this year it seemed even more kosher than usual. This year there just wasn't some food with a sign, there were people "guarding" the food. That's a Halachik (Jewish Law) requirement. The food was dairy and parve, which meant that those who wanted the Ben & Jerry's ice cream could have the ice cream for dessert. In previous years, they had Hagen Daz.

I didn't grimace because of my diet. It wasn't all the traif, Israeli loony Left and Arabs which bothered me.

I didn't like the message of the outgoing U.S. Counsel General Jake Walles. He made it very clear that he and the American Government would do everything in their power to create a sic "Palestinian" State. He went on and on and yapped and yapped and said other nonsense like that the United States was founded for freedom. Historically that isn't true. Did you ever hear about the Boston Tea Party? "No taxation without representation." The American Revolution was all about money, not freedom. The liberty/freedom stuff came later.

If a high-ranking American State Department official can't get American History straight, do you really think he (and they) know anything about the needs, history, security etc of another country? Another part of the world?

I was politely silent when attending their event, but now I can open my mouth and send my words out to be read.