Shoppers Ready For Independence Day Picnics

SEBRING - Donnie Strickland, manager at Sweetbay Supermarket, was prepared for a deluge of Independence Day shoppers like Deb Johnson and Bernie Veenkant, of Sebring, who were loading up a cart Thursday.

The mother and daughter shopped for a special new holiday recipe this year: a red, white and blue cake. They bought pudding, pound cake, whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

In anticipation of a five-person Fourth of July picnic, the shopping cart Johnson pushed was also filled with corn on the cob, brats, baked beans and potato salad.

Strickland said the grocery store is busier on July 3 and the morning of July 4, and then business drops off until the beer buyers stop by in the evening after the firework displays.

The supermarket manager orders an extra 10-percent hotdogs, ribs, rolls and barbecue sauce.

Extra displays at the main store entrance, and around the store, make it hard for customers to forget charcoal lighters or other holiday staples. The displays also let employees restock the shelves less often.

The rush is less intense than at Christmas or Thanksgiving holidays, said Strickland. The store bakes custom cakes with "Happy Birthday America" and "Happy 4th of July" stenciled with frosting. Red, white and blue cookies are a big seller.

Cookouts Fuel Grill Sales
Troy Doty, store general manager at Home Depot of Sebring, said he sells 25 to 30 percent of all grills sold during the high season, which lasts from Memorial to Labor Day, during a five-day period before and after the holiday.

Hundreds of assembled grills were sitting out front and along store aisles.

"It's crazy -- a feeding frenzy -- they pre-shopped or have seen an advertisement. You keep seeing customers wheeling grills through the store," said Doty.
"Everybody wants to have a party."

The store typically receives propane deliveries once a week, but for Independence Day week, tanks are delivered three times.

Gas grills range in cost from $99, with a tank, to $1,299, including a refrigerator and overhead awning.
Propane grills outsell charcoal models by four to one, but charcoal is much less expensive, starting at $39.

After The Fireworks
Ethan Hales and Erin Tewksbury, of Okeechobee, catch a movie once a week. On Thursday, they were two of the more than two dozen moviegoers at Lakeshore Mall Theaters who waited for the movie house to open just prior to 1 p.m.

While visiting Lake Placid for the weekend, Hales and Tewksbury expected to watch a pair of movies during the three-day holiday weekend, partly because they had additional time off from work.
The pair will seek movie theater air conditioning during the late show, after viewing a holiday fireworks display.

"It's the American thing to do," said Hales.

Jackie Keenon, manager of the mall theater, was preparing for the weekend rush on Thursday.
In Sebring, the busy movie viewing season is contrary to most of the United States because of snowbirds.

Still, Keenon expects an increase of moviegoers for the Fourth of July holiday, likely due to the regular Independence Week release of a "summer blockbuster" movie.

"Hancock," featuring Will Smith, will run four times a day, in two theaters, for at least a week. The probable blockbuster will play in Lakeshore Theater's two biggest venues this week with 260 and 200 seats.

Keenon said attendance will dictate whether the theater keeps two prints longer than the initial week run, along with the size of the theater(s) reserved. The manager expects another rush when the next Batman movie, "The Dark Night," opens July 18.