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Fireworks explode over the rides at Celebration 2006 |
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Tuesday, July 4, 2006
By MATTHEW MCCORMICK - Bulletin Staff Writer
A grandstand-full of Josh Shilling’s closest friends and family welcomed the Stanleytown native back to the area Monday evening at Celebration 2006.
After touring for the past year and a half with the R & B band The Embers, Shilling returned home Monday to take the stage with Domino, which opened for headliner Blake Shelton at Martinsville Speedway’s annual Independence Day celebration.
This year, 12 local business and government sponsors united to put on the $120,000-event, which featured a fireworks display by Henry County Director of Public Safety Steve Eanes, a half-dozen carnival-style rides and musical performances free of charge.
“You look out, see 40,000 people and you know half of them,�? said Shilling, who offered a soulful rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?�? “It’s like one big family reunion,�? he said of the event.
Shilling was not the only one with family on the mind at Celebration 2006. Stroller-pushing, hand-holding moms and dads abounded at the eighth annual event.
“It’s the only thing where you can go out and enjoy an evening with the young’uns,�? explained Bruce White. “They can have a little bit of fun with the fireworks and the rides.�?
Nine-year-old Bridget Williams, daughter of White and Naomi Coleman, looked like she had more than just a bit of fun after she disembarked from Catch ’N Air.
Williams was all smiles as she explained why her 25-minute wait in line to experience the Catch ’N Air’s scream-inducing spins and lifts was worth it: “I was scared.�?
“It was awesome,�? she added.
A little bit of fear also went a long way on the Cliff Hanger, on which riders lay on their stomachs on hang glider-like harnesses that took them into the sky at sharp angles.
“It was scary because of the height,�? said 9-year-old Johnny Ortega, son of Donna Ortega.
Scary enough that when Ortega was asked if he would take the ride again, he answered with an enthusiastic “Yeah!�?
Other riders were not quite ready for such an adrenaline-inducing experience. Four-year-old Devyn Brown said that after sliding down the Magic Carpet on a burlap sack — safely flanked by parents Peggy and Jonathan Brown — he was headed to Willie the Whale, which provided a gentle, sloping jaunt into the air in whale-shaped cars.
While many of Celebration 2006’s younger attendees waited in line after line for their favorite rides, most of their parents said they were looking forward to hearing the evening’s main act, country star Blake Shelton.
Michael Womack said he drove 120 miles from Henderson, N.C., to see Shelton. Womack got to do just that when he and a handful of other attendees boarded Shelton’s tour bus prior to the show as part of a meet-and-greet with fans.
“To me, country musicians personify love of country and respect for troops abroad,�? said Womack. “It’s nice to celebrate the Fourth of July with artists that have the same convictions as you.�?
Womack apparently was not alone in that sentiment. When Shelton’s guitarist broke into the crunching opening chords of “Redneck Girl,�? a cheer went up among the packed grandstands that turned into full-fledged screaming when Shelton took the stage.
It was a response that delighted the country singer.
“I’m one of the new guys in country music, so I’m not used to such big crowds,�? he said. “It’s awesome, man.�?
The audience also was kind to Shelton’s opening act, obliging when the Roanoke-based, horn-backed Domino — which has been invited to perform at the Speedway celebration the past four years — urged the crowd to “get up on your feet�? during their rendition of Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.�?
“It’s really great,�? said Domino’s special guest, Mic Gillette, a trumpeter who has played with groups such as Tower of Power, Santana and the Rolling Stones. “Every year, a country crowd shows up and we play R & B for them, and they get up and dance.�?
It is the kind of reception that Gillette said kept him and Domino coming back to Henry County and Martinsville’s Independence Day celebration year after year.
“I love this neck of the woods,�? he said. “I’ll come back any time they ask.�? |
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