KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Not all communities waited until the 4th to blow off fireworks, but Kalamazoo and Battle Creek did.
Turnout was strong at Homer Stryker Field. In Battle Creek, there were fireworks to conclude this year’s Field of Flight event.
A favorite spot in Kalamazoo for fireworks watching has always been from the back of East Hall on the Western Michigan University campus, but the view for the past few decades has been obscured by trees.
Now that WMU has renovated East Hall, cleared the trees away and built a patio, an even larger group turned out this year. You could see everyone’s fireworks show all the way to the horizon. Some celebrations Monday in Kalamazoo were curtailed by isolated showers, however.
There were not only fireworks on Independence Day, but a number of local communities also held parades.
Kalamazoo mass murder survivor Tiana Carruthers was the grand marshall of Schoolcraft’s parade. Paul Gobble, who was one of nine people struck by a pickup in Cooper Township last month, was feeling good enough to participate in the parade in Richland, riding in a golf cart. He was the last person released from the hospital following the collision.
If anything, crowds seemed bigger this year than in previous years.
