by laura beth

Josh Ressel is a friend of ours from Saint Barnabas. He's originally from Salina, Kansas, and we were able to meet and visit his parents in Wichita. We only meant to spend one night, but ended up staying 5 nights. Vince and Faye are some of the most wonderful, generous, and humble people I've met. They live in a wonderful big old house. They fed us, sparked good conversation, and Faye took us to a farmer's market and a nice brewery for lunch. We spent the 4th of July with them. We had a BBQ with Faye's brothers and their families, and watched fireworks in Peabody, Kansas. One the way to Peabody we stopped at one of Faye's favorite spots, on a piece of land that was her father's. It's just a small portion of a larger wheat field. There is a beautiful meadow there, surrounded by a creek lined with trees. It's completely serene. As we drove in, the fireflies starting flickering beneath the tree, and we started a couple of spotted fawns. It was an amazing place. I thought it was kind of magical.

Anyhoo, Peabody knows how to celebrate. On the way from the wheat fields towards Peabody we couls see fireworks going off in the distance. So we sped up to get there as we were missing the show. Then we could see fireworks going off in all four directions! Small towns throughout Kansas were starting there firework shows and we were missing them all! So we parked and when we get out of the car we discovered that the show had not even started. The fireworks that we had seen, which are the fireworks we are used to, were being set off all over town right out of people's front yards! Amazing! It was like the opening scene in Avalon where the main character arrives to America on the Fourth of July and walks the streets with fireworks going off all around him. Kenny has never really believed that scene and thought it was just a bit of Hollywood flare. That scene is mild compared to what we witnessed in Peabody.


This was Peabody's 88th annual celebration, and it was by far the best small town fireworks show I've ever seen. Peabody's population is roughly 1, 400 people, and I bet all of them (times 5!) were gathered around the local high school baseball diamond at the city park for the show. After dark, the field lights shut off, and the sky lit up with tons of huge blasts. It seemed to us that they had started with the finale. Throughout the night, they alternated the sky show with fireworks piece sets-the kind that are built on a wooden frames and spell something out or make a specific image. Apparently Peabody has the largest piece set display in the state-around 20 of them! It was really amazing. Just when we thought it couldn't get better, the finale came in the form of canons shooting off huge blasts to the tune of Johnny Horton's The Battle of New Orleans. As we walked away, even more blasts lit up the sky, almost like they found a box of fireworks they somehow forgot to set off. To make it even better, people were setting off huge fireworks in their yards. Obviously Kansas' fireworks regulations are no where as strict as Oregon's. It was the largest, longest, most spectacular display either Kenny or I have seen. This is a little recording Kenny made with his phone. The quality is poor, and it only shows a fraction of a fraction of the 2 hour light show. But you get the idea. If you listen close you can hear us laughing with disbelief at the sheer scale of this small town fireworks display.




This has been our first trip to the Midwest, and we are definitely pleasantly surprised. I would come back to Wichita in a minute. The landscape is green, the people are friendly, even the cities feel like small towns, and fireflies are everywhere. It really is wonderful in Kansas.