Joe Curtis watched his kids, 11-year-old Myracle and 8-year-old Jackson, jump up and down in bounce houses and on a Eurobungy in the ESL Ballpark outfield for hours on Sunday.
The kids were having a blast: “This is the best day ever!" yelled Jackson.
Everything went according to plan for Curtis, whose kids are in town for the summer. He saw that Monroe County was celebrating America’s 250th birthday with a free celebration in downtown Rochester.
“We heard that it was a good family-oriented event,” Curtis said, “So we just wanna make sure we take advantage of all the opportunities that this lovely city has to offer us.”
The event featured music from local bands including Ampla-Fire, Controversy, and Prime Time Brass. The outfield was transformed into a festival filled with family-friendly activities such as supersized cornhole games, batting cages, and slides.
Visit Rochester President Don Jeffries led the 10-month planning effort in collaboration with Monroe County, the Rochester Red Wings, and Roc Holiday Village’s Jenna Manetta-Knauf.
"This is just a chance to showcase Rochester," Jeffries said. "You know, it's a great place to be, it's a great place to live, and a great place to visit."
He relished being involved in this project in particular.
“ I'm a real patriot,” Jeffries said. “I love America. I love the country we live in, and to put something on to show that love for America was an honor for Visit Rochester.”
Rochester Red Wings owner Naomi Silver shares that pride.
"Baseball is Americana,” Silver said. “Every day we celebrate what this country is founded on, and people love coming here, I think, in large part because of that."
More than a dozen nonprofits, including WXXI, participated in the event.
The celebration concluded with a fireworks display over downtown Rochester.
