Minnetrista's lawn was covered in a sea of red, white and blue at the Muncie community fireworks show.
"It's important to show people that freedom don't come free, and as long as we've got patriotic people that wants to serve the community, we're going to be here," said Sgt. Tom Brown, a member of the Army National Guard in Shelbyville.
The air smelled like smoke and mosquito repellent. Students gathered on blankets while young parents chased kid with sparklers, adults remenisced, and veterans stood proudly.
"It's exciting to show patriotism — and patriotism is everywhere — and to let people know, ‘Hey, there's nothing wrong with showing you're patriotic.'"
Sgt. Dustin Victory has been involved with the army for eight years and joined out of high school. He's served in Kuwait, Iraq and Germany.
"I think it's great, everyone showing their patriotism and loyalty to the country," he said.
Adrienne Mahaffey, 30, watched her toddlers play as she waited for the show to start. She graduated from Ball State in 2003, and she's watched the community fireworks since she first started college.
"We just enjoy bringing our family and watching the kids play," Mahaffey said. "Obviously they look forward to watching fireworks. The atmosphere is what we enjoy the most, and the weather."
A dispatch officer at Muncie Police Depatment said no crimes or injuries were reported as of midnight.
Leigh Ann Jones, 54, who works in the purchasing department at Ball State, said she and her family have been to the fireworks show since she was little. She came with her 21-year-old son and her parents.
"It's just nice time for family to get together, something we can do," she said. "We usually have a cookout before and then we watch the fireworks.
"We usually come to this area of Minnetrista. It hasn't changed a whole lot."
For Gabriel Billones and his international classmates, it was a new type of Independence Day celebration. Billones is a junior studying new media at Ball State during the summer semester, but he studies chemical engineering at a university in the Philippines.
He said back home Independence Day isn't celebrated with such big community events. Instead, flags are hung from people's houses and elementary children participate in a parade.
"After a couple days, we just realized that we are really here in the United States," Billones said. "I mean this is precisely unique. The Fourth of July gave us different tastes of culture."
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