{"id":45941,"date":"2021-07-05T04:18:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T10:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/crowd-enjoys-return-of-july-fourth-fireworks-and-fun-in-cortez-parks\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:28:22","slug":"crowd-enjoys-return-of-july-fourth-fireworks-and-fun-in-cortez-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/crowd-enjoys-return-of-july-fourth-fireworks-and-fun-in-cortez-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowd enjoys return of July Fourth fireworks and fun in Cortez parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fireworks
Fireworks light up the park during the Fourth of July celebration.<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cortez parks came alive for the Fourth of July with family barbecues, live music, volleyball matches, and a spectacular fireworks show.<\/p>\n

Late afternoon clouds rolled in and cooled off the summer heat, then the Four Corners Community Band kicked off a concert of patriotic songs to the cheers of the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so great to have live music again,\u201d said Bob Ower, as he introduced the band and announced upcoming performances of Southwest Colorado Concerts.<\/p>\n

Sheldon Yazzie and his family traveled from Farmington to enjoy the day at Centennial Park, and watch the fireworks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love coming up here. The Cortez parks are really spacious,\u201d he said. \u201cThe show is always good. Right now it is time to celebrate, and enjoy the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group included family and friends from Shiprock and California. Burgers simmered on multiple grills, and a lively volleyball game kept everyone laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we can play against some other teams,\u201d Yazzie said.<\/p>\n

One of the Cortez dinos greets visitors to the park for the Fourth of July celebration. The dinosaur costumes were \"just for fun.\"
One of the Cortez dinos greets visitors to the park for the Fourth of July celebration. The dinosaur costumes were \"just for fun.\"<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Cortez Police Department patrolled the park on mountain bikes and said there had been no problems. On bikes they are more approachable, and get to know the community more, they said.<\/p>\n

This year felt extra-special, people said, after the fireworks were canceled last year because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad to see all these people back in the park,\u201d said Lil Bostrom, of Cortez. \u201cA big Fourth of July is a Cortez tradition, and we missed having it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jane Sanders, agreed, as she relaxed in the shade and watched her grandchildren and great-grandchildren play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is nice to finally have it back. A day in the park with the family,\u201d is what the holiday is all about, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Sam
Sam GreenA Freedom sign reminds visitors the reason for the Fourth of July celebrations.<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Thelma Dee, owner of the Hot off the Grill food truck, from Aneth, Utah, enjoyed a steady stream of customers at the park selling burgers, Navajo tacos and cool drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome, love the people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Frank Yazzie, a Navajo elder from Dennehotso, Arizona, praised Cortez parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are beautiful, well laid-out with plenty of shade,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Before the fireworks, he and his wife relaxed and took note of the next generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t hear much Navajo, compared to our childhood,\u201d Yazzie said. \u201cNice to see everyone together again. Having a sense of normalcy back is a good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

He visited the Ute Mountain Ute fireworks show Saturday, and saw the Shiprock one as well.<\/p>\n

\"Fireworks
Fireworks fill the sky during the Fourth of July celebration.<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Main Street in Cortez, many businesses were closed, but those that remained open got the benefit of holiday crowds.<\/p>\n

Moose and More had a steady stream of customers ordering ice cream, said server Adam Yoder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re selling a lot of pints today for people to take to their barbecues,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are happy we are open.\u201d<\/p>\n

That included the McBurneys, who were visiting from Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re staying at Mesa Verde National Park and wanted to see Cortez\u2019s downtown. The ice cream is especially good,\u201d said Lissa McBurney. \u201cIt is exciting to be out of the house and traveling again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vendor Scott Maidman was having success selling tie-dyes on Main Street over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday was phenomenal. A lot of travelers stopped by: Indiana, Phoenix, Las Vegas,\u201d said Maidman, who recently moved to the area from Texas. \u201cCortez has a good vibe to it. Mayor Lavey has bought some of my tie-dyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fireworks
Fireworks fill the sky during the Fourth of July celebration.<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Around 9:15, the fireworks began, lighting up the sky with a kaleidoscope of color. Booming explosions echoed into the night, and a red white and blue finale drew cheers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went well, the crowd seemed to enjoy it,\u201d said Cortez Fire Protection District Chief Jay Balfour. \u201cWe shot off all the rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The cost of the fireworks was $18,000, and is covered partially by donations from local businesses, Balfour said.<\/p>\n

The Cortez Fire Protection District put on the fireworks show this year, noting the irrigated parks provided a safe location in a time of increased fire danger because of drought.<\/p>\n

Balfour said there were more fireworks this year than usual because of the backlog from last year\u2019s cancellation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really happy to have it back,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d say the crowd was as big as it typically is for the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arranging the sequence of the hundreds of rounds is an art, he said. The show lasted about 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

The fire department was handed the job from Keenan Ertel, who ran the show for decades, and has been mentoring the new fire department crew, Balfour said.<\/p>\n

There are 432 different sequences, totaling 1,000 rounds. Preparation took three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re carrying on the tradition,\u201d Balfour said.<\/p>\n

\"Children
Children enjoy playing with balloons while waiting for the fireworks to begin.<\/span>Sam Green\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

with families from around Four Corners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,568,28,173,29,445,598],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-events","tag-headlines","tag-mesa-verde-national-park","tag-newsletter","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-public-holiday"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86685,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45941\/revisions\/86685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45941"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}