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Changes to 4th of July celebrations in mountain towns

McCall and Crouch are making some adjustments
Posted at 6:47 AM, Jun 29, 2017
As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, two mountain destinations are adjusting rules about how people can celebrate.
 
Crouch rose to fame in 2016 after a video of people setting off their own fireworks downtown went viral. This year, that won't be the case.
 
And in McCall, a year after limiting where Fourth of July partiers could drink alcohol, there are more adjustments this year.
 
"The history of Fourth of July at city of McCall had been accelerating to a point in 2015 where it was unsustainable and not safe," said McCall Mayor Jackie Aymon. 
 
You may remember last year, alcohol was prohibited on North Beach and in city parks in McCall during the Fourth of July holiday. 
 
"We had a restaurant owner who said this was the first time that no one threw up in a restaurant," said Mayor Aymon
 
Mayor Jackie Aymon says after last year, the city took a look back to see what worked and what didn't. She says alot of businesses were happy, but some had a reduction in their activity. This year, they've made a few changes. 
 
"The biggest changes we're going to have alcohol free parks only on our beachfront parks," said Mayor Aymon. 
Mayor Aymon says alcohol will be allowed in select parks. 
 
"Some of our other parks, our pocket parks, particularly golden glove park, which is our baseball park, if people want to have a beer, if they're 21 and want to have a beer, they certainly can," said Mayor Aymon. 
 
Last year, boats were unable to access North Beach because of a safe swimming zone, but this year, bouy lines will be reduced so boats and kayaks will have more access. 
 
A Boise resident says she's happy about the change.
 
"I love being able to bring my kids here and to know that they're safe and that people aren't drinking on the beach and then heading out on a boat where my kids are on their paddle boards out there," said Emily Erickson, Boise resident. 
 
About an hour and a half away, another mountain town has made some adjustments to their Independence Day celebration. 
 
Last year, Crouch received national attention when a video of a downtown Fourth of July party surfaced. 
 
"After that made the New York Post or wherever it was posted back East, they we're really worried about how many people we're going to show up and if people we're just going to come to get wild and too crazy in town," said Cole Youren, private landowner. 
 
Diane Caughlin, president of the Garden Valley Chamber of Commerce says several community landowners approached the city with concerns. 
 
"So, there's an ordinance in place to stop all the fireworks, personal fireworks is what we call them and we can't have anything from sparklers to mortars in downtown crouch," said Diane Coughlin, Garden Valley Chamber of Commerce President. 
 
Cole Youren is a private  landowner who is going to allow people to light off fireworks in his arena outside of city limits.
 
"We're just trying to keep it going," said Cole Youren. 
 
Diane says those fireworks in the viral video last year didn't have anything to do with fireworks put on by the chamber of commerce. And it won't stop crouch community members from celebrating the way they have been for years. 
 
"And at at ten o'clock on the Fourth of July, we have our fireworks show and it's a really nice display done by professionals," said Caughlin. 
 
And as for the city of McCall.  
 
"We want everyone to have a good experience. We want the city to be safe and we think that everyone should be able to celebrate the birth of our country in a positive and robust and fun way," said Mayor Aymon. 
 
In McCall, those alcohol restrictions will begin July 1st at midnight and end July 5th at noon. 
 
The Garden Valley Chamber of Commerce will be putting on a number of events leading up to the fireworks including a pancake breakfast, a flag raising, boat races, and wagon rides.