Broadway -- in Lubbock, TX -- Explodes with July 4 Food, Music, Fun on the South Plains

Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal ^ | 07-05-03 | Patterson, Angela

[Theodore R.]

Broadway explodes with food, music, fun July 4 celebration draws strong crowd

BY ANGELA PATTERSON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

From Avenue Q to University Avenue, not one inch of space went unoccupied.

Festival goers from all over the South Plains enjoyed music, food and fun at the 4th on Broadway celebration Friday, billed as the largest free festival in Texas.

One hundred and seventy sponsors and contributors helped make the event possible, which included 44 vendors and more than 60 entertainment groups. Nine stages were home to country, rock, Tejano, gospel and dance groups.

The high temperatures made the food and beverage vendors popular. Most everyone carried some type of drink, and lines were long at stands selling everything from fajitas to funnel cakes.

However, not everyone was cruising up and down Broadway. Many took a seat at one of the nine stages to see dance and music groups from across the area.

Belly dancing group Taqsin, which means "improvisation" in Turkish, performed American tribal-style belly dancing on the heritage dancer stage. The group, comprised of Lubbock natives, was excited to perform at the street fair.

"This fair brings in people from all over," said Kathy Cavazos, director of the dance troupe. "We've been wanting to perform here forever. We found out who to contact at the last minute and slid in right at the last minute. It was a lot of hard work, but it was fun."

While some watched the acts onstage, others were just trying to cool off. The Lubbock Fire Department set up some watery fun on Avenue T. Water polo is a game where a large ball is suspended from a wire. Com peting teams on either side use the water from fire hoses to push the ball to the other side. While the spray of water is aimed at the ball, everyone around gets drenched.

"We bring this game out for kids and grown-ups to have fun," said Fire Lt. Matt Hixson. " I think it actually was once used for training, but now we just use it for events like this."

While some organizations set up games for fun, some have other motivations. The Rape Crisis Center manned a booth selling Blue Bell Ice Cream. The center uses the opportunity as their yearly fund-raiser.

"Part of doing this is just to get our name out," said Tonya Edwards, case manager for the Rape Crisis Center. "It is also our annual fund-raiser. We've really done well this year, much better than last year."

Some individuals turn their Fourth of July into a learning experience. The Youth Corps program works all day on the holiday as the climax of their two-week boot camp. The purpose of the program is to teach teamwork and leadership.

"I wanted to learn more leadership skills," cadet Ruben Mendoza said. "I really wanted to be more disciplined. I'm giving up my Fourth to help people and receive nothing in return. There's not a better day to do that."

For some, the Fourth of July is simply a homecoming. Tray Smitherman, a Coronado High School graduate, was spending his first Indepen dence Day in Lubbock in five years. Smitherman served two tours of duty in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Fort Benning, Ga. and narrowly missed another tour in Afghanistan.

"I could be in Afghanistan right now, so it's good to be here," Smitherman said. "It's nice to celebrate the Fourth of July at home."

Angela Patterson 766-8716.