By Reid Forgrave
Enquirer staff writer
SAWYER POINT - Rob Brewton came down to the Serpentine Wall early Saturday, more than 36 hours before the first firework ignited from barges on the Ohio River, to stake out his spot - which, he said, is the best fireworks vantage point in the entire city.
"This is like Malibu property," the Middletown man said, guarding the four rows at the top of the wall that were marked with lawn chairs, blankets and his family name in duct tape.
"This is the place to be. You get to see the complete show, with all the low-effect fireworks."
Like the hundreds of thousands of others who gathered Sunday on the banks of the Ohio River to watch the Labor Day fireworks and bid farewell to another summer, Riverfest is a tradition for Brewton and his family.
Thirty family members from Middletown, Amelia, North Carolina and Nebraska rotated shifts guarding the prime real estate from poachers. They played video games and card games - euchre, spades, hearts - and soaked up the sun until, at exactly 9:05 p.m., the light show finally began.
"You wait all summer for it," said Brewton, who once scheduled a leave from his Navy post in Japan so he could catch the annual show.
"It's the last bang for summer."
For the thousands of Cincinnati-area residents who crowded onto the riverbanks in Ohio and Kentucky, Riverfest was the only fitting end to summer 2004.
In mid-afternoon atop the closed Purple People Bridge, a trailer became the center of attention for a few minutes.
"That trailer is full of ducks," said Mike Hanrahan, a hint of awe in his voice as he stood near the sign-up table for the Rubber Duck Regatta. "75,000 ducks."
As the chief financial officer for the FreeStore/FoodBank, Hanrahan had good reason to be in awe of the spectacle. With a $5 donation per duck, the 75,000 faux waterfowl in the 10th Annual Rubber Duck Regatta equated to $400,000 for his organization.
Over the past decade, the race has raised more than $2.4 million for the organization, which serves 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
At 3 p.m., amidst a wave of cheers, two cranes lifted the trailer above the Ohio River, tilted it sideways and dumped a 10-second waterfall of cascading yellow ducks. A 100-yard race down river determined the winners of a 2004 Toyota Tacoma truck and five $1,000 U.S. Savings Bonds.
The remaining hours until the fireworks passed under a sun uncommon to this relatively mild summer.
High temperatures nearly reached 90 degrees, and no wind blew.
Shirts were slipped off, suntan lotion was slathered and songs were sung. But no suds were swilled at the dry event - at least not conspicuously.
Some convened in downtown parking garages with coolers of beer, as alcohol is banned on both sides of the river during Riverfest.
A convenient way around the rules was to be not on one side of the river or the other but actually on the Ohio River, where, boaters said, the real party was.
"The party is what boaters are all about," said Paul Brungs of Bridgetown, who had his 47-foot houseboat docked near the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers in Northern Kentucky since Friday. "And it's about the best view you can get. Labor Day is what the boaters look forward to all year, the biggest party of the year."
Hundreds of boats were anchored and tied to one other near the Covington riverbanks, forming lines of partiers and personal watercraft riders who all seemed to know each other.
Shadow, Brungs' 13-year-old Corgi, scampered across his boat with no inkling that he soon would be fleeing the sounds of fireworks. (Brungs turns up his radio full-blast during the fireworks to calm the dog.)
Temperatures cooled slightly when the sun began to disappear around 7 p.m. and crowds began flooding the area on both sides of the river, snatching with blankets what small plots were left.
And politicians were aware that votes were also up for grabs during this end-of-summer bash. Many people donned a Bush-Cheney or a Kerry-Edwards sticker.
One political volunteer, a Delhi native, said she drove here from Atlanta to visit family and urge Ohio voters to back her man, John Kerry.
"Our whole reason for coming here was to get out the Kerry vote," said Debbie Moll, who carried voter registration forms with her twin sister, Maria Schade of Pleasant Ridge. "And to visit family. We know our vote wouldn't matter much in Georgia, which is supposed to go Republican, so we knew we wanted to come to a swing state."
On the other side of the river, however, the political volunteers were much less ubiquitous. Though the annual fireworks may be old-hat for some, others like 23-year-old Kate Schuster of Fairfield had never been.
Schuster's friends had thrown her a surprise bachelorette party. In the afternoon, the group was about to get on a bus when Schuster said she saw a blanket.
"I screamed at the parking lot," she said, brushing a veil over her hair.
"We're going to the fireworks."
Ari Bloomekatz contributed. E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com.
