Stars and Stripes Abound As Town Gets Ready for July 4 Fireworks

Matthew Hersh

Fresh from the annual Flag Day celebration, the Spirit of Princeton is getting ready to wave Old Glory yet again for this year's Independence Day Celebration Fireworks.

The fireworks will be held tomorrow evening, June 30th, rain or shine, at the Princeton University Campbell and Finney Athletic Fields next to the Princeton Football Stadium. People will be able to enter the fields as early as 6:30 p.m. to set up picnics. The actual fireworks will begin shortly after 9 p.m. No alcohol is allowed at the celebration, according to event organizers.

While the actual Independence Day does not fall until Monday, Spirit of Princeton's Mark Freda said that because the event is taking place on University facilities, the fireworks need to take place when full University staff is available. The University is largely staffed by skeleton crews on major holidays and cannot support a large-scale event such as the fireworks event, organizers said.

Faculty Road will close at 8 p.m. until after the fireworks, and University officials have asked that people keep from gathering on the Washington Road Bridge or the fields off of Washington Road in West Windsor. The Stadium's toilet facilities, the ones closest to the fields, will be open to the public. Princeton University is providing parking in: Lot 21 (near Jadwin Gym); the parking garage on Prospect Street; the lots off Ivy Lane; the lots off Washington Road.

"Glo-necklaces" and Spirit of Princeton T-shirts will be sold to benefit The Spirit of Princeton, a non-partisan community group organized primarily to enhance civic pride. Other Spirit of Princeton events include: the Memorial Day Parade, the Flag Day Ceremony, and the Veterans' Day Ceremony. For those who would like to donate to the organization, send a check payable to PACF/Spirit of Princeton Fund, to: the Princeton Area Community Foundation, 15 Princess Road, Lawrenceville, NJ, 08648. Donations can also be made on-line at www.pacf.org/donate.html.

The Spirit of Princeton is a volunteer group with no administrative costs, and all money raised goes towards its sponsored programs. For more information, visit www.spiritofprinceton.org.