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Nothing beats a great southern Fourth of July. Food, picnics, baseball, fireworks, professional entertainment of all sorts and endless outdoor activities. That has been true in Atlanta for 100 years at least.

Back in 1910, virtually the entire city shut down except those businesses catering to "having fun." All the public and private parks were filled with celebrants and the smells of BBQ filled the air as the Declaration of Independence was traditionally read aloud. Then that same air, already rich with the mouth watering scent of roasting pork, was filled with the explosions of "thousands of dollars burnt up in fireworks" resounding throughout the city from sunrise until midnight.

Those 1910 Atlantans who preferred indoor activities flocked to dances and the vaudeville houses. Lakewood Park had a Grand Ball with a full orchestra playing from noon to 6:00 p.m. and once again from 8:00 to 11:30 p.m. At the theatres, comedy and music were the main attractions. The Bijou offered "The Lady and the Lobster" and the Lyric presented Geewilliker Hay in his "hilarious" comedy, "Tennessee's Pardner." Along with a raft of comedic acts, the Forsyth Vaudeville House bill included the exotic Hawaiian Quartet featuring "native songs, dance and music" from the Sandwich Islands.

With all that going on, the biggest news was about sporting events. Out at Ponce de Leon Park, the Crackers split a double header with the New Orleans Pelicans and the southern amateur tennis championship filled the courts at the East Lake Country Club.

The biggest attraction for local sports fans on the Fourth of 1910, however, was thousands of miles away in Reno, Nevada. The world championship-boxing match there pitted the white James Jeffries against the black superstar Jack Johnson. For those days, it was a major and even shocking event and the results of each round were described and announced live in downtown Atlanta as they were telegraphed in. Thousands turned out to listen as Jack Johnson won a decisive victory.

But there were simpler pleasures closer to home. The local Schlesinger Candy Company in-sisted that any Fourth was less than spectacular without a box of their Whim's chocolates. Because you could have a whole Fourth of July celebration in your mouth as "Exploding Expletives of Delight Fill the Air in 'Sparklets' of Rapture When Pearly Teeth Meet in the Center of Whims." A hundred years later and I doubt anyone has topped that marketing technique combining product with holiday.

-Dick Funderburke

A new family-friendly event is happening in midtown on June 13, 2010. The event, called Summer Stroll on the Mile, is intended as a casual community event that will take place on Peachtree Street along the area known as the Midtown Mile (North Ave to the High Museum).

Come out to enjoy the sites, sounds, food, shops, and amenities of the Midtown Mile. The event will feature free and fun kid's activities such as cupcake making, a petting zoo, a puppet making station with the Center for Puppetry Arts, storytelling at the Margaret Mitchell House, magicians and other fun activities, as well as live music, sidewalk sales, food and drink tastings, and more

The event starts at 12 p.m. and ends at 4 p.m., so bring the kids and whole family to experience this new and exciting event! For more information about the event, feel free to visit us on Facebook at - www.facebook.com/SummerStrollOnTheMile