Preparing for the Fourth's Festivities

Preparing for the 4th was really interesting! Large crowds are expected for the big holiday. In preparation, we made sure that contact information is in cars, we all practiced "Reach, Throw, Ro, Don't Go!" life saving practices for the water (but on land), and checked out the early arriving crowds.



We have a special community presenter for the holiday...Mr. Ducky Day. Mr. Day is the former mayor of Sulphur, a retired US History teacher for Sulphur Schools, and a current member of the American Legion here in Sulphur. He has been collecting flags of the U.S. and has a special showcase of them in our aduitorium for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The display is quite outstanding and impressive. And as Mr. Day pointed out, all the flags relate to a National Park in one way or the other. He will give formal and informal talks to our visitors.




In addition to the flag, Mr. Day has a great collection of Platt National Park memorabilia. Lauren found this particular page in his display. It's for Platt National Park's Water Carnival and Celebration in 1938. We loved that FDR's son Elliott Roosevelt would crown the queen. Classic! It's neat to see the park in a national context.




That afternoon we took a walk to Little Niagara. It is a popular swimming area, where a lot of work by the CCC was done. It is the first swimming hole after the springs so the water is usually the cleanest and freshest. It's very popular with park goers. As you can see, with the 100+ degree heat index, the place was packed with families trying to cool off.

Lauren gave me a tour of Travertine Island. (Note water bottle---never leave the office without it!)

The sign tells the story about the creek being formed and the limestone that is present. The historic wayside tells a nice scientific and historic story of the area.

This is a comfort station built by the CCC. Who wouldn't want to use this? It's very clean and nestled just steps away from the swimmig hold and other parts of the creek.

Still remaining on Travertine Island are the picnic benches built by the CCC. They are made of rocks and so sturdy. You can just imagine someone eating at those picnic tables a half century ago, enjoying the same beautiful sight that we were.