During my growing-years down on the farm in Toombs Country there were those special times that the family got together and when our clan got together back then it was a pretty big gathering. One such special time was on the Fourth of July. The event would be marked most of the time by a cookout down at the old swimming hole on Cobb’s Creek. Since fish were plentiful in the creeks and ponds a big fish fry on the creek was the entre’ of the day.

Early on the morning of the Fourth of July, Dad would load a big washpot into the pickup truck along with a number of big watermelons that he had picked out of the field just for this purpose. The family would gather at our house with their contributions to the meal and in time we would travel the old winding dirt road through the woods to the “Whirl Hole” on Cobb’s Creek. Upon arrival at the “Whirl Hole” dad would throw the watermelons into the water. The melons would float up against an old log and remain there in the cool running water until the afternoon. When time came to cut the melons, they would be cool and delicious.

Then while dad set up the old washpot and put the grease into it to get it ready for frying fish, we youngsters would gather firewood to fire the pot with. Then while the adults cooked the fish and readied the meal, the youngsters would swim and romp in the water until time to eat, and that was a family tradition.

Across the years, whenever it has been possible, although far removed from Cobb’s Creek, I have tried to continue that tradition. The Fourth of July is always cookout time at our house, sometimes we fry fish and sometimes we do barbecue. This year it was barbecue.

Upon our return from our recent far west tour, we dropped by the grocery store and had a fine pork loin sliced into suitable cuts for grilling on my weathered old grill. B J. and the girls would plan and put together the fixings to go with the barbecue. We like to collect recipes and while on tour B. J. had collected a number of recipes from the Occidental Family Restaurant in Dodge City, Kansas. She was anxious to try out some of those recipes. One was a recipe for Sweet Creamed Corn and the other was a unique recipe for Creamy Cole Slaw. Our menu for the day would consist of slow-cooked hickory smoked barbecue pork loin and Texas cut ribs, grilling beans, sweet creamed corn, creamy coleslaw, B. J.’s special strawberry pretzel salad and Betty Certain would bring some Vidalia Onion Pies and Pam Rehberg would furnish the desserts. Yum yum.

We were up early making the final preparations. Our company would be arriving soon and we wanted to have everything underway and be ready to pig out by noon. I always enjoy hobnobbing with my guests while I’m cooking.

I put the meat on the grill around 10:30 a.m. and soon, the aroma of the savory meat was fogging through the neighborhood. The day was shaping up in great fashion.

Soon all were present and everything ready and we got right down to the business of the day: a great Fourth of July barbecue with all the trimmings and a lot of jolly camaraderie. After lunch, our guests wanted to look at the pictures that we took on our tour so we had a great time laughing and talking and sharing about the trip.

But the day wasn’t over. The annual St. Simons fireworks celebration would be taking place at the pier around 9:00pm. We didn’t want to miss that spectacular event.

Our visitors finally trickled away and went about their holiday agenda. B. J. and I tidied up a bit and got ready to go down to the pier and join the throng that would be gathering in the park and along the beach for the big event.

Since traffic is always congested in and around the village on the Fourth of July, we tied Ole Red up in Vernon and Bonnie Langford’s driveway and walked the short distance to the village. Our friends Bonnie and Vernon, who had eaten lunch with us, walked along with us.

Down at the beach we ran up on some friends who invited us to share their blanket for the main event. We chatted and cut up and carried on until the show started. It was indeed a sensational spectacle. The display of brightly colored fireworks out over the water was phenomenal-a truly fitting happy-birthday party for the Good Ole USA. Somebody in the park had brought a CD player and while the fireworks were doing their thing, Lee Greenwood was singing “God Bless the USA.” We all felt good.

After the show we circled the village a few times to see some of the other exciting shows that were going on down there, and then we headed for Ole Red. As we walked along in the dark, we felt proud to be Americans in the USA.