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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Sizzling, shimmering Fourth at the Fort

Shiny, happy, sweaty people brave heat for annual Fort Vancouver celebration

By , Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published:
11 Photos
Annalee Symons, 2, from Boise, Idaho, arrives with her parents Logan and Jenni Symons at Independence Day at Fort Vancouver.
Annalee Symons, 2, from Boise, Idaho, arrives with her parents Logan and Jenni Symons at Independence Day at Fort Vancouver. Photo Gallery

Festive shades of red, white and blue dotted the crowds at the Independence Day celebration at Fort Vancouver, and most everyone shimmered with perspiration. With temperatures reaching the mid-90s, people clustered under the shade of trees and tents.

Several red-faced revelers wandered into the Pearson Air Museum, seeking respite in the air-conditioned building.

A sweaty city Councilor Larry Smith, decked out in a flag-printed shirt, rounded up some exhausted-looking children for the Kids’ Patriotic Parade at the north end of the parade ground. The parade slowly wound its way to the Fort.

The water station and mister at the Vancouver Public Works booth was a popular stop for people walking through the rows of vendors.

By late afternoon, the first-aid station had treated a few people who had heat exhaustion.

Golf carts were transporting injured people up to the shaded area, where they had coolers of bottled water.

This was medic Nicole Beaulaurier’s third year working at the Fort Vancouver celebration and, she said, by far the hottest.

“One year I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt the whole time,” Beaulaurier said.

Despite the heat, diehard fans of the celebration got to Fort Vancouver when the gates opened and stayed until the bitterly hot end.

Elaine Hernandez is one of those fans, unfazed by the weather.

She and her family got to the Fort around 8 a.m. After 21 years of attending the celebration, the Port Orchard resident knew to get there early to get the best spot for viewing the music stage and the fireworks. She’s been bringing her daughters since they were babies because, for one, the fireworks at Fort Vancouver are the “best display ever.”

“It’s multigenerational now,” Hernandez said. “Everyone is just so happy. … I love it.”

She snagged her usual spot underneath a tree. “I beat two other guys by seconds,” Hernandez said with a laugh.

As Hernandez and her boyfriend were setting up the tents, he said he needed the knife from her purse. She reached into her purse, but instead of pulling out a knife she found a ring box.

“I turned around and he asked me to marry him,” Hernandez said. “This is my favorite holiday and my favorite place, so this is perfect.”

Hernandez said she wants an outdoor wedding — perhaps in that special spot under the tree.

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Columbian Social Services, Demographics, Faith