Atas. has its own 4th of July celebration, again!

The Fourth of July is Wednesday, and I am so excited to spend the day in Atascadero.

There has not been an Atascadero celebration as long as I’ve lived here (I arrived in Atascadero in August 2003). One of the many questions I asked my grandmother, who served on the Atascadero City Council from 1979 to 1990, was why is there nothing in Atascadero on the Fourth of July.

She told me that the council ended the celebration due to it getting out of hand.

Every year, as I pack up the car with my young child and everything we’ll need for a day out, I’ve thought, “I’d love to be able to spend the day at the lake park for an official event.” I knew I could have gone to the lake park and spent the day, but I wanted to join a celebration.

I have already invited my friends to join my daughter and I, and our Swedish daughter (she’s here with EF Educational Tours on a month-long exchange to learn English and experience American life) at the lake park for the day.

I’ll start the day running the 5K — my third 5K since April — and intend to camp out in the park for the day.

While some of my friends won’t join us because no fireworks is a deal-breaker, I look forward to a day in the park with live music, games and plenty of faces I recognize in the city I live in.

If my daughter were older — and had the ability to sit through a full-length movie — I would take advantage of the free movie for her.

Seeing how popular the park is on any given day, I’m confident the park will be filled with people of all ages.

When you head out to the park, do keep a few things in mind to ensure that this event continues in the future:

• Drink responsibly (see Creig P. Sherburne’s column on B1).

• Remember that smoking in the park is illegal, but is allowed in the parking lot.

• Bring extra food — and drinks — to share with old friends and the new ones you will meet.

For the complete article see the 06-29-2012 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 06-29-2012 paper.