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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 5, 2004 'Tour de Fourth' By Steve Zimmerman Ashland Daily Tidings Under bright sunny skies and warm temperatures growing hotter throughout the day, Ashland celebrated the Fourth of July like only Ashlanders can. Spectators watch in a field near the National Guard Armory as fireworks explode Sunday night over Ashland. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Starting with the Elks Breakfast at 7 a.m. and continuing with one of the more impressive parades in Ashland history and ending with an extravagant fireworks display choreographed to patriotic music, the day was full of fun, food, music, merriment and rockets exploding in air. The parade featured customary Fourth of July entries, including, bands, kids, dogs and plenty of floats and politicians. Parade highlights included the turnout of Democratic politicians and supporters. Among them were State Senate candidate Rep. Alan Bates and County Commission candidate Sue Densmore. Also, dogs lined the parade, including a pack of dachshunds and hopeful adoptees from Friends of the Jackson County Animal Shelter. Several bands, including the Ashland Community Band and the Ashland High School Jazz Band, filled the streets with music. Once the parade ended, the masses stormed into Lithia Park. Vendors lined the streets selling anything form music CDs to photographs to jewelry and clothing. A new vendor this year, Jennifer Georgaras, of Photography by Dragomir, was at the celebration to show off what real-life photography can look like at ground level. "The photography we are displaying is reflective of the moment and of truth," she said. "Our photography is completely untouched, and it reflects what happens when you blink. When you blink or close your eyes, you miss that moment. Our photography is a venue to preserve that moment. Back after a two-year absence, Roman Morykit and Cilette Swann, Gypsy Soul, played to a huge crowd at mid-afternoon. Swann said the Fourth is always a favorite day for them to play in Ashland. "Our music has a very spiritual type of element, so it fits in very well with the Fourth of July," she said. "Two or three years ago, we played on the Fourth in Ashland, and the response was phenomenal. It always is good here, and we are kind of spoiled by playing in Ashland. Our shows are almost always sold out." One new aspect of the festivities this year was the broadcast of the parade over the Internet by Ashland Unwired and Open Door Network. Jim Teece, who started Ashland Unwired with Alan Oppenheimer, said Thursday that the event was going to be a tremendous success or an unmitigated failure. By 3 p.m. Sunday, the result had far exceeded any of Teece or Oppenheimer's expectations. "We have had nearly 10,000 users log on to watch the parade," Oppenheimer said at 2:45 p.m. Sunday. "It has been a huge success. The toughest part of the day was we had someone broadcasting from the fifth floor of the Ashland Springs Hotel, and I couldn't get to him to see how it was going." Oppenheimer and Teece both credit Ashland Fiber Network with allowing them the opportunity and service to be able to present the parade online for the first time ever. The two were receiving e-mails from all over the world about the broadcast and even had people at their booth calling relatives or friends telling them to log on and watch. They were then afforded the opportunity to send those relatives or friends good wishes live over the Internet from Ashland. One of those watching the parade was Sally Worland, a security analyst in Oakland, Calif., who was working. "This is a Tour de Fourth," she said. "It is very, very cool, between being bored and tracking socially inept hackers, to be able to see a parade while at work." Another watcher, Marty Adkins of Washington, D.C., said it was raining in the nation's capital, and he was glad to be able to see a parade. The parade was watched by people in more than 70 countries as well as states in the U.S. Anyone interested in seeing the parade again can do so anytime starting today. "Just log onto www.opendoor.com/july4/, and you will be able to look at any of the eight camera shots we used to record the parade," Oppenheimer said. He said the next big event for Open Door is the Jackson County Fair, which begins July 20. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams