Published: July 06, 2008 12:28 am      

Between the drops

Rain rearranges fireworks, preempts picnics

It was, by all accounts, a soggy Fourth of July.

A steady, light rain continued throughout most of the day and even into the evening, forcing local officials to postpone the holiday fireworks until Saturday evening.

“Everything just got rained out,” Tim Thomas, local weather observer for the National Weather Service, said. “It wasn’t one of our better Fourth of Julys by any stretch.”

While the rainy weather may have, as Thomas said, “put a crimp on everybody’s plans,” some people still made the most of it: Either resting at home quietly or celebrating in spite of the rain.

They continued doing so at Saturdays Live! at Canal Place: Bishop-Walsh sophomore Maggie McGill and Hayden Ort-Ulm, a local college student, sang popular songs from this year’s hit indie movie, “Juno.” The pair accompanied the music with their guitars.

A number of people turned out for the music, and most of them didn’t come alone. Alan Cross of Fort Ashby, W.Va., brought his dog, Blue. “This is really good for the downtown. The music, the Canal Parkway,” Cross said.

The retired farmer comes to Canal Place every Saturday for the music, but said he didn’t think he’d watch the annual fireworks held by Cumberland’s Parks and Recreation Department at Constitution Park.

“He’s not too crazy about the fireworks,” Cross said of Blue.

Kim Earnest and her friend Patty McGill didn’t let Saturday’s showers stop them from going ahead with their plans. “We had a picnic yesterday ... even though it was raining,” McGill, of Bowling Green, said. “It was in the rain but we were fine.”

The kids even swam in the McGill’s pool, since there was no sign of lightning, Earnest, a Cumberland resident, said.

But both women were worried about the weather for Saturday’s show—and happy that, although muggy, in remained dry. McGill is Maggie’s mother, and said it was her daughter’s first time performing in public.

They, like some others in the crowd, weren’t sure if they would be watching fireworks later in the evening. Louis Donahue said he didn’t plan to. Nor did he have a lively party on the Fourth. “We rested. Everyone worked the day before and was tired,” the Bedford Road resident said.

Ken and Marlene Eicher of Cumberland said they weren’t going to Constitution Park for the fireworks. “We can walk up the street and watch them” from their Michigan Avenue home, Ken said.

The couple retired here from Ridgeley, Md., on the Eastern Shore, a couple of years ago. Their Fourth of July was simple and intimate. “We watched it rain and had a little cookout, just the two of us,” Ken said.

Contact Daleen Berry at dberry@times-news.com.