ST. PARIS — Community celebrations across western Champaign County went off with the usual mix of civic pride and questionable aerial shells launched from pickup beds near W. Main and side streets off Springfield Street.
Organizers of the St. Paris Homecoming picnic said the official show “remained family-friendly,” while unofficial shows “remained creative.”
“We love freedom,” said one resident who declined to give a last name but was standing next to a crate labeled mortar within earshot of US-36. “Also we love not getting a citation.”
Village officials asked residents to clean up cardboard tubes before trash day and to remember that “quiet hours still exist even if the calendar is red, white, and blue” — especially if your neighbor works early at Graham on the highway.