The smell of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs wafted through the air on a strong breeze. Barefoot children played football while a live band entertained an audience sprawled on lawn chairs and beach towels.
Locals relaxed over the school year's first long weekend at Newberry's Fireworks and Baseball Labor Day Classic Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Rocky Voglio, owner of Newberry's Backyard Bar-B-Q, said he first organized the event 10 years ago.
It has since grown to include a fireworks show, a baseball tournament and more sponsors, including the City of Newberry. It also offered horse-drawn buggy rides.
Diana Rivera, 42, pushed a red and black stroller around the Newberry Sports Complex, on Northwest 16th Avenue, with her husband, Mario. It was the family's first time at the event.
Rocco, Roxy and T.J. - their Yorkshire terriers - poked their heads out of the stroller. They wore matching outfits with red ties in their hair.
A group of children ran up to the stroller, eyes fixed on the trio who eagerly leaned toward their new audience.
"They're always a crowd pleaser," Rivera said.
Suwannee River Early Ford Club members Don Fales, 71, and Frank Wheelus, 80, brought their antique cars.
Fales had a navy blue 1940 Ford Coupe that he's owned for six years. He went to California to purchase the award-winning car, paying more than $12,000.
Wheelus, who carries a picture of his car in his wallet, said he looked for eight years before he bought his polished black 1941 Lincoln Continental Coupe.
His wife likes the car but doesn't ride in it, he said.
"She says, 'That's your toy,'" Wheelus said. "After looking at it, she said, 'If you don't buy this, you're going to have to quit looking!'"
On another part of the field, a band played atop a platform. A small boy dressed in green was the lone figure dancing unabashedly in front of them.
"You ready to rock and roll?" the lead vocalist shouted down at him.
Bryan Smith, Jeff Dove, Frank Zyskowski and Alan Gray, who make up the band Crown Vix, played for most of the night. All of the members except Dove work for the Gainesville Police Department.
During each show, Smith said he makes sure to mention the band's former rhythm guitarist, Lt. Corey Dahlem, who was killed last year by a drunken driver on University Avenue following the basketball championship game in 2007.
As the fireworks started, Lloyd Estes, a former SFC student, watched from the bed of a pick-up truck with his little sister and several of her friends.
Estes, who is in the Air Force, drove up from Tampa to be with his family before he is sent to Iraq. Even the noticeably higher gas prices didn't stop him from visiting.
Estes, 25, said the last time he came to the event was five years ago, and it has grown since then.
"There's definitely a lot more people here this year," he said.
Cars packed the parking lot and lined the road outside of the complex for the fireworks. Although the display is expensive to put on, Voglio said it's worth it.
"This," he said, "is a show."
