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How to Make the Most of Your Day On the Mall
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Many Washingtonians will go to bed tonight with visions of fireworks dancing in their heads. But the celebration on the Mall starts long before the first shell is shot into the sky tomorrow.
"We're not the party; we're just helping out with the celebration," says Lansden Hill Jr., president of Pyro Shows, the company responsible for Saturday night's 17-minute show. "The fireworks are really just a small part of what today is about. It's about looking back and celebrating the birth of America."
The party starts at 10 a.m., when security checkpoints open. Veterans of July Fourth on the Mall will appreciate this year's ease of access. The Smithsonian Metro station will be open, unlike in previous years, and the museum area of the Mall will be easier to navigate because there won't be a security perimeter. If you arrive in the evening, just before the fireworks, you'll miss half the fun.
Staid institutions become family-friendly, and history comes to life throughout the day with games and children's events, historical reenactments and even an appearance by the gang from "Sesame Street."
National Park Service spokesman Terry Adams says that a long weekend, plus a fireworks program unaffected by the economy, is likely to draw more visitors to the Mall for this year's celebration, which will pack 14,212 pounds of shells into a show choreographed to 18 songs.
Turn the page for your all-questions-answered guide to the Fourth on the Mall, and get ready to be dazzled all day long.
-- April Umminger
