“What a wonderful Fourth of
July! We hope the spirit of the Provo
celebration will spread to all parts of
our country. We want to thank
everyone who helped make the
Fourth so great. What a swell place
to live, here in the shadows of the
mountains – how very biased in-
deed we are!”
We believe this brief note –
received by the Herald over the
signature of the “Harold Ivie
Family” – reflects the feeling of a
great many people about the Provo
Freedom Festival completed on
Independence Day.
Provo has had many splendid
Fourth of July celebrations and it is
hard to rate them comparatively.
Suffice it to say the 1912 version was
a good one – filled with activity and
entertainment, and marked by a
highly-patriotic tone.
The theme, “What’s right with
America” was excellent and a
patriotic answer to detractors who
would depreciate the values of this
land of liberty.
The celebration reached its high
point Tuesday with the outstanding
parade and the Pat Boone stadium
show pulling the top crowds.
The Provo Freedom Festival
Corporation, the city and civic-
oriented sponsor, faced a special
test, mis being the first time in two
decades that the celebration wasn’t
sponsored by the LDS Church with
its vast reservoir of manpower so
readily available. The new group,
with Wilson W. Sorensen as
president and Hamid Hintze general
diairman, came through with a fine
job and marshalled the necessary
leadership and support to maintain
the high caliber of Provo
celebrations.
To be sure there is always room
for improvement and if the com-
mittee is seeking suggestions for
next year, we have three small ones
to offer:
There were comments that there
were not enough floats in the
diildren’s parade; we feel the
tremendous July Fourth parade
would have been enhanced had the
floats been prejudged and winners
labeled as in some past years; and
we believe the concept of the Sunday
night meeting should be oriented to a
“patriotic assemb1y” rather than as
a “sacred service” where applause
is not permitted. The speeches and
music are patriotic and musing –
why not applaud?
The celebration required
monumental effort by many people.
We join with the lvie family – as we
believe most people would do – in
expressing thanks and
congratulations to all whose efforts
made the festival possible.