TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – This could be the most patriotic Tally Back Then election of the year.

An edition of WCTV's year-long look back at Tallahassee's Fourth of July Independence Day history spans five decades and shows that some aspects of the American celebration have remained the same over the years.

Family, friends, fireworks and food are still important components of a successful Fourth of July.

Florida Memory's photo archive contains dozens of snapshots of patriotic celebrations in Tallahassee in the 1960s, from a soapbox car race to sack races to a water skier hanging upside down on Lake Ella.

A few decades later, WCTV cameras were all over the city capturing legendary Fourth of July stories.

“Today we celebrate America down at Tom Brown Park,” one organizer told WCTV in 1994.

Like today, families flocked to the park to enjoy food and socializing.

A few years later, WCTV covered the Killearn Lakes Children's Fourth of July Parade. A huge crowd dressed in red, white and blue paraded through the neighborhood in 1996.

And in 1998, WCTV attended a naturalization ceremony. Janet Fournier, one of America's newest citizens, told a reporter what a special day it was for her.

“I waited so long for this citizenship, I was proud of it. Now I am an American citizen,” she said.

In 2004, WCTV visited a local animal shelter to see how dogs survive a traumatic holiday. A young girl shared what her dog does when the fireworks go off.

“Sometimes he tries to jump over the fence, and when he's in a cage, he starts gnawing on his cage,” she said.

Further figures from that time:

That same year, WCTV dropped by a barbecue, filmed the delicious sights and accompanied them with patriotic music.

The fundamentals of a satisfying Fourth of July have remained the same, whether it was celebrated in the '60s, '90s, 2000s, or today.

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