Email to a friend Thousands trickled into Tom Brown Park on Wednesday to eat carnival-style food, get freebies, play games and watch dance and music performances while they waited for the main events - a concert by country music star Tracy Lawrence, followed by a huge fireworks display. Shuan Reed, 39, who was with his two young sons, said he likes that the Fourth of July event was family-oriented. "They don't have this where we're from," said Reed, who a month ago moved to Tallahassee from Chipley, which is 70 miles west.
"That's one of the things that's good being over here. There's always something for them to do." Reed's son, Kylan, 7, who had the Batman symbol painted around his eyes, said, "I got a balloon and I got a tattoo.
" Michelle Lopez, 23, of Miami, enjoyed the nice breeze as she held her 3-month-old son, Robert, in her arms and her daughter, Anabelle, 4, made large bubbles from a soapy mixture in a blue container in the Kids Zone. "This time, it's a lot better because it's not as hot as it was last year," Lopez said. Food choices included funnel cakes, flavored ice, smoothies, corndogs and curly fries.
One vendor - Stump Alartsfield, of Crawfordville - sold fried pickles. "I do try to do different things," he said. Boy Scout Troop 51 was selling glow sticks that turn red, white and blue and can be made into necklaces.
Keith Gibbons, whose son is a member of the troop, said this was their only fundraising opportunity for the year. Students from the School of Nursing at Florida State University were selling small American flags to raise money for a scholarship fund in honor of the son of professor Nanna Cuchens, Daniel Chaires, a Marine who was killed last fall in Iraq. The Florida Lottery handed out free scratch-off tickets and held live drawings.
Winners got a chance at catching Blizzard Bucks, when they'd enter a booth and try to catch and stuff as many dollars as they could into an apron pocket in 30 seconds. citizens as U.S.
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