‘I can not believe that it is the end of June,’ said Billy B. ‘I know…it seems that we just got out for summer recess, replied Chet. ‘I have some M80s and Cherry Bombs that my dad purchased in Missouri,’ said Daryl with a wink. ‘I like the sparklers the best,’ Jane said with a laugh. ‘Have you guys ever lit the black buttons called snakes and watched them grow into a several-inch-long facsimile of a black snake,’ asked Billy B.? ‘I think that Snakes on the 4th are about as interesting as Sea Monkeys for Christmas,’ chuckled Chet. ‘Fire Crackers scare me a little…I am afraid they will go off before I am able to throw them,’ said Billy B. ‘I am looking forward to going out to your Grandma Askews’ house to watch the Starlight Drive Inns Fireworks display this year,’ said Jane. ‘Yes it will be something special…, especially with the Roman Candles dad brought from Chicago,’ Billy B. added.

It was getting dark at Grandma Askews. Billy B.s friend, Debbie, and her sister Shelia, who were Grandma’s neighbors…came over to join in the Independence Day Festivities. ‘The lights are getting blue,’ noted Grandma Askew. ”That is a sure sign that the Fireworks will not be far behind…when the new street lights began to first glow with an ethereal blue light…and then in about 15 minutes…reach the zenith of their lumens,’ said Aunt Guelda. ‘We do not have anything like this in Holland,’ said Yoop who had the rich chocolate candy that was in the shape of wooden shoes and made in Holland. Yoop…or Yoopi…as Aunt Guelda and Grandma Askew called her…was a big-boned woman with angular features and a thick accent. She was friendly and vibrant and seemed as strong as any man. ‘Yoop…have you any wooden shoes,’ asked Billy B.? ‘I do indeed and the next time that you are here I will bring a pair to show you…and if you like them…I will order you a pair…what is your shoe size,’ said Yoop. ‘Size 9…and thank you,’ said Bllly B. ‘May I have another chocolate shoe,’ asked Chet? ‘Look…they have started,’ said Jane in an excited manner. ‘I think that this is much better than fighting the traffic and people that are parked along Route #45 by the Drive Inn,’ said Guelda. ‘Who is that man in the bushes across the road,’ asked Neva J.? ‘Oh…that is my brother…Herman…answered Yoop…he loves to set off his own firework display on the 4th.’

Suddenly the sky around Grandma Askew’s home was as bright as the daytime at high noon. ‘Oh my goodness…I have never witnessed such a bright firework,’ said Grandma Askew. ‘It comes from Holland…and it is a big hit every year when homes across our land go from complete darkness…to brilliant light…in a moment,’ said Yoop with a wicked grin. ‘What makes the light so brilliant, asked Chet? ‘It is a solar flare…and only we people of the Netherlands understand its power and glory,’ Yoop answered. ‘But…it is still light as day and the flare went off several minutes ago,’ Neva J. noted. ‘The light lasts as long as the people around it…require it,’ Yoop said matter of factly.

The unearthly light of the solar flare from Holland has illuminated Eldorado for 50 years and has made the little town the tourist destination of the nation. People come from all around the United States…and indeed from all over the world to see the little City of Gold…that never sleeps.