For some reason that I have yet to discover, the Independence Day fireworks display in South Fork burst forth on the third this year! I will get to the bottom of this, but my main plan for the weekend was neatly scuttled.
When I'm in town for the Fourth I like to enjoy the show from the Rockaway Cafe, the steakhouse I cooked at for several years. It's the tradition there that the crew from both the front and back of the house--dining room and kitchen--take a break and watch the fireworks together from the receiving dock out back. The display doesn't start until half past 9 and usually the dining room is slowing down by then. Wait staff will tell any lingering guests where they'll be and even invite them to come along if they don't mind the proximity of the dumpster. (Even so, some waiter or hostess will continue to make quick circuits of the front to make sure no one is neglected.) Those that want can grab a cold one from the beer fridge on the way through the kitchen; it's refreshment that's especially appreciated after the usual holiday crush of diners and a nonstop cycle of orders, prepping, cooking, service and clean-up.
The fireworks are launched from a bluff north of the Rio, up near the golf club, readily visible from the Rockaway and most of the town in general. It's only a half hour show, paid for by donations, but it's better-than-average for a small mountain town. And it's something I look forward to every year.
But not this year. This year they launched on the third. I still feel disoriented.
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