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A near-perfect day Staff Reports The city's notable Fourth of July extravaganza began with a morning filled with fun and floats and continued on without pause through a nighttime brightened by colorful fireworks. Fireworks explode over Raider Stadium during Friday night's show. Ashland Daily Tidings/DENISE BARATTA Ashland celebrated Independence Day in its usual fine fashion Friday, drawing tens of thousands to town for the city's annual holiday bash. A lone fighter jet from Klamath Falls' Kingsley Field waggled its wings over the parade route around 9:30 a.m., banking sharply to the northeast after thrilling parade-goers with its streaking speed. People lined five-deep in some places along the road to watch the stream of parade entries, from waving contest queens and kings and young dancers to the typical Ashland assortment of political groups spreading their message to all who would listen. With temperatures in the upper 80s and a light breeze from the north, it was, by most accounts, a near-perfect day. After the always-last samba band entry led parade-goers to Lithia Park to begin the second phase of Ashland's celebration, Winburn Way became a sea of humanity. Vendors sold steaming hot dogs, fry bread and pizza, among hundreds of other delectables. Crafters pitched their clothes, pottery and jewelry with apparent success. As night fell, the pop-pop-pop and screech of fireworks filled the air. At locations all around the city, streets were lighted by mainly legal fireworks, although some explosions up in the air surely tested the legal limits. Shortly after 10 p.m., the first wave of city-sponsored fireworks rocketed into the sky over the Southern Oregon University practice field, and people settled in for their final blast of the day. The grand finale was indeed grand, exploding in a crush of sound and color as people yelped and hooted to end the night. Then traffic jammed the city's streets as people from near and far called it quits, heading home with another head full of Fourth of July memories. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -