By Coben Scott
On June 29, Falcon High School hosted Falcon Freedom Days, a patriotic community celebration and gathering that leads up to July 4.
At this year’s event, locals were welcomed with a number of food trucks, vendors, bouncy houses, a petting zoo and more. Within the first 10 minutes of the start, about 50 cars were already parked, and crowds were forming.
When entering, event goers were greeted with the sounds of music by a DJ, the aroma of barbecue and sights of a line of booths set up for local businesses and organizations. The State Bank provided a cornhole game in their booth, and included a spin-the-wheel game, where they handed out prizes based on where the ticker arrow landed. Longtime locals Kevin Curry, president of Friends of Falcon, and Joyce Crawford, owner of a homemade jams and jellies business called Can Do! shared a booth. When asked about the event, both held similar sentiments. “It’s all about community,” Crawford said.
The community seemed to enjoy the event; as the day progressed, more people came sweeping in. Although families were the majority of the attendees, groups of teenagers and older couples also hung out.
Another hit booth was the “Missio Dei: Falcon Church,” which handed out water, cotton candy and smiles. With the usual Falcon wind present, bits of cotton candy could be tasted by anyone as it floated through the air.
Just across from the booths were a firetruck, ambulance and the Falcon Fire Protection District firefighters. As a small crowd formed around the FFPD and EMS, the workers showed all their emergency vehicles’ bells and whistles to interested families.
The bouncy houses were among the most popular items. Three large inflatables were set up and swarms of kids enjoyed them throughout the day. While walking through the event, one little girl pulling on her dad’s arm yelled out, “Set me up for the bouncy house.” Another hit was the petting zoo, operated by the “Wishing Star Farm” from Ellicott. They brought a variety of animals, from llamas to goats. The pony rides were also a big success.
Outside the ocean of conversations in the crowd and background music, hotdog vendors could be heard yelling for people to come get a summer food favorite. Scout Troop 149 from Falcon cooked and served hotdogs for $2. Scout leader Darrell Gull, head hotdog chef, said, “Our goal is to teach leadership to the kids out here while being part of the community. What better way to do that than Freedom Days?”
As the day peaked, there were an estimated 300 attendees. Many locals had only positive things to say. A group of teens echoed, “It’s a lot cooler than we thought it would be.” Longtime Falcon Middle School teacher Shannon Telljohn said, “It’s my first time out here for Freedom Days, I didn’t know what to expect but it’s a pretty great turnout.”
After the day ended, the fireworks show began about five hours later. Set for 9:20 p.m., the show started and the colorful explosions burst through the sky. Although impressive, the show didn’t last long as minutes in, the wind carried sparks from the launch into a field, igniting a small grass fire.
Thankfully, the FFPD was on standby to put it out quickly, but the result was a quick show from the pyrotechnics. Concerns about the fireworks were posted across online neighborhood groups, but no significant damage was done. The rest of the night was followed by scattered personal — and illegal — fireworks that thankfully didn’t catch anything else ablaze.
Photos by Coben Scott
