Did anyone happen to catch the Stan State Forth of July show?
Did anyone happen to catch the Stanislaus State Fourth of July show?
After having attended the 24th Annual Stanislaus POPS concert and Fourth fireworks at CSU Stanislaus (I’ve attending close to 20 of the 24) I was just going to let this one go without any comment (other years I’ve really given it a “thumbs up”). That is until I had talked with several people who also attended the concert and fireworks and who said they were very disappointed in this years event. To many, this show has always been the best Fourth of July event in the area…. Well, until this year.
With the increase in the cost of gas, more people attended the Fourth show and the grounds were packed. As usual we had gone to the campus days early to stake/rope out an area for the family, the grand kids and all the other in-laws lf my children (like others to get a good location to see the fire works). All around us we saw people who we see every year and were excited to see the fantastic show.
The Amphitheatre on the west side of the campus was wall to wall bodies. The opening announcements were made and the POPS Band concert started right on time (as usual). Then the disappointments began. For some reason, this year the POPS Band was almost inaudible. Even after people all around us stopped to listen, and the area I sat in was quieted, the band was a strain to hear. For what ever reason (perhaps the PA system was turned low) conductor Stuart Sims could not raise the volume. After a few minutes of not being able to hear (and we were in the bowl of the Amphitheatre) people just decided to stop trying to listen and the talking began again (all that talent and no one could hear it).
As the sun set, the crowd turned their eyes to the south east corner of the bandstand (the location of so many of the past fireworks displays). Problem was the crowd was thrown a last minute change. The fireworks were going to go off to the north of the Amphitheatre. All the people who were sitting in the north section of the Amphitheatre were in for a bigger shock. When the fireworks show began, they noted they could not see the fire works as there is a tall building between the Amphitheatre and the fire works show. What most of us saw was the tops of the flashes. The lights were left on along the sides of the building to top it all off. From what people around me were saying I was not the only one who was puzzled by this change. I have no idea how the people at the bottom of the Amphitheatre bowl could see any of the display as the angle between the people and the building and the fire works was even greater (I was at least up on the hill a little bit). Did any of the CSU Stanislaus POPS committee take a look at what the fire works would look like from the Amphitheatre before making this big change in the location of the fireworks? Even the usual “BOOM!” which the children (and adults alike) enjoy was missing. Not even a “POP”. I think the problem with the music was the same as the “BOOM”… the wind was blowing from the west to the east and the sound was just “BLOWN AWAY”.
Hopefully, next year they will return the fire works show back to the prior location so more people will be able to see the display (or at least post were the fire works will be located so people will know how to adjust the seating locations). And another side note, I know the condensed fire works display was due to the tight economy, but it seemed that this year’s display was at least half as long/and a lot less rockets fired as it has been in the past. Next year if it looks like the show will be short of funding, please contact the Modesto Bee and place a public notice (hopefully free of charge) asking people to submit five, ten, twenty dollars per family to make the show worth going to CSU Stanislaus to watch. Otherwise, if this happens again in 2009, CSUS may find an empty Amphitheater in 2010 (and no one wants that to happen). If you need additional volunteers to help set up the program, hey, just ask…
As I said at the beginning of the post: “I was just going to let this one go without any comment”, however, I’ve heard too many comments today to “just let this one go”. The Fourth of July at CSUS is a long standing tradition that needs to be upheld and kept special. If that can’t be done, perhaps this will end as all good things do…. Not with a “BANG”, but with the sound of silence.
You can read my 2007 review of the CSUS 4th show at:
http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=node/4550 "Thank you Stan State – Great 4th" Now that was a GREAT show!!!
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Fireworks frustration
Our family was pretty low in the ampitheatre, near the stage, and we were extremely disappointed by the show. That building -- with all its lights on -- blocked many of the fireworks bursts. And the fireworks were farther away than before, so you couldn't hear the "booms" as well.
We believe the fireworks were launched from the new location because the new children's festival was set up in or near the old launch area. I'm all for a children's festival, but it should move elsewhere so the fireworks can again be the backdrop to the band.
Dan
Ya...
A couple of friends of mine griped about not being able to see. I asked them how muched did they pay for the show? When they said it was free I tolded them to quit whining!
If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
John Wayne
J.. J... J.... Free or not
I will have to disagree with you on this one Jh. It has been “FREE” for years and never this poorly run. When you invite people to your house, do you offer them the worst seat in your home? If you take someone on a date (it’s free for them) would you take them to the nastiest dump around? When you send someone a gift, do you send the most awful re-wrapped gift you had received as a gift but didn’t want? No! I don’t think you would.
If the college did not wish people to enjoy the music and the show, they should just say so. I’m sure they did not intentionally mean for things to go as they did; however they did. "Free" has nothing to do with it when they are invited guests. If that’s not the case, next year have a mandatory $5.00 per car load charge and put on the show you’ve given people the expectation of receiving.
I also thought it lacked...
I only have a handful of years watching this show but my fiance and her family have been going a decade. We went out, staked our little spot, BBQ'd all day, packed our dinner and went for a beautiful evening at the campus.
I didn't think the Pops was too low, but then again I was sitting to the left of the stage near the PA. But when they told us to look for the "new" launching area and then watched to see the top of every other rocket burst, I just about packed up and left.
Our family scrambled to move into the campus more to watch the show. We managed a decent view but the parket lot lights strained it and took a lot of the "wow" factor out.
For the campus, it was a black eye to add to the already HUGE basket of them. The school is beautiful, many residents take advantage of an awesome school in the back yard, but there is definitely something lacking in the community service and public opinion they continually shoot to heck. This year's fireworks a prime example.
OK...
Bm, I think my point, which I did not state very well, that is was not intentional on the college's part. Honest mistakes happen.....and for some people to get angry is not right. As for the best seat? I always get that. And women have accused me of taking them to lesser known eateries......but good inexpensive grub is always ok in my book! And I have Regifted before too.
If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
John Wayne
Jh... angry, no...
Jh, Angry? No! Disappointed? Yes!
I was just pointing out how many that were there have commented on how "disappointed" they were at this year’s performance. While at the show I tried to give one of the people at the entrance parking lot a donation - had the money in my hand hanging out the window of my vehicle.... I must have been invisible as not one, but two people just looked at it and waved my car through. At the break when the people were going around with the bucket (or yellow tee-shirt) collecting donations, not one came by in my section. Having attended Stan State back in the 70's (and my wife in the 80's) I would not mind if the Alumni Association were to send out a letter for donations for next years Fourth of July show. We'd send our check as I'm sure others would also. After 60 (plus) years of Fourth of July's... I'd like to see this tradition kept alive and "SPECTACULAR".... even if it cost me $$$. I don’t buy fireworks at the stands any longer so this presentation is worth a few bucks.
A dissenting voice of praise for Stan State
A very bad experience four years ago drove us off campus for the Fourth of July. Until this year.
The last time we went, Big Guy was just shy of 1. We sat just to house left of the amphitheater and couldn't hear a dang thing all night. That was a minor gripe, though, compared to what happened after the fireworks. However many people were seated in the amphtheater that night apparently all had urgent appointments that required them to leave right now. And required them to mow down an 11-month-old's stroller in the process. I tried moving every direction possible, and I even tried standing still. Nothing could get us out of the stampede.
I wrote the whole experience off as family unfriendly and vowed to never return. For the next three years, we watched the fireworks from a friend's house a few blocks from the college.
The Kids Fair drew us back this year. In contrast to the self-absorbed rush to exit we experienced in the amphitheater four years ago, the Kids Fair crowd was amazingly patient and jovial -- even though some lines took 45 minutes to navigate. Not a soul complained. For the most part, parents stood in the lines and chatted while the kids wore themelves out in the bounce houses.
And let's not discount the public relations value of the Kids Fair itself to the college. Big Guy and Little Guy have spent a ton of time on the campus, but even they learned something new Friday night. They'd never met the Warrior before. Now they know him, love him (well, at least Big Guy does. Little Guy's not so sure yet.) and Stan State has forever branded itself in a 4-year-old's mind. You can't buy that type of pre-kindergarten brainwashing. OK, I suppose technically you can, but all it cost Stan State was a few bounce houses, a clown and a handful of face-painters.
Now, think of all the kids there who had never stepped foot on a college campus before. They learned what one was, and that one is closeby. I'd venture to guess that for at least half the Kids Fair crowd, this was a first exposure to higher education. I realize there's a long journey between a Fourth of July fair and a bachelor's degree, but you have to start somewhere.
The time of day the Kids Fair started, I honestly can't see it fitting anywhere else on campus but the arts quad. There were four bounce houses, face-painting, a clown with ballons, a bubble table and a small, reasonably priced snack bar. I honestly can't think of another spot on campus with enough mature trees where all that would fit, though there might be and I've missed it. But to put small children in bounce houses between those hours in the Central Valley heat without considerable shade would be pure folly. The quad was the perfect location.
JH, you're absolutely right: Stan State didn't set out to ruin anyone's Fourth of July. I think the motive instead was to make an already nice event more inclusionary. I, for one, appreciate the effort and gladly contributed the "suggested donation" and then some. I can tell you that some of the families at the Kids Fair would have been excluded, though, had that donation been mandatory.Debra Legg
modbee.com interactive media editor