Canceled.

http://www.columbian.com/article/20090704/NEWS02/707049968/Fort+Vancouver+s+dark++but+it+isn+t+defeated

""I have been attending the Fourth of July fireworks since I can remember walking," the 46-year-old Vancouver resident said Friday.

But not this year. For the first Independence Day since 1962, the skies over Fort Vancouver will be dark tonight.

"My friends, my family, are all up in the air about what to do," Flora said. "It’s just horrible to drive down there and see the sign, the big sandwich board, that says, ‘Remember, no July 4 fireworks.’

"That’s kind of disheartening. It’s very, very discouraging. And it’s a real letdown for the city of Vancouver."

For decades, the fireworks show, once touted as the biggest west of the Mississippi River, was Vancouver’s signature event.

This year, it’s a casualty of rising costs and dwindling financial support.

Vancouver is hardly alone as communities across the country cancel or pare fireworks shows as they scrape for every dollar during a sour economy.

The New York Times and Newsweek contacted the Fort Vancouver National Trust for comment on the Vancouver show’s demise, as part of coverage of a nationwide trend toward fewer flashes and bangs this holiday."