Three who were “born on the Fourth of July” find a lot to celebrate.
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer
When they were young, very young, Kandice, Anne and Phil thought Independence Day belonged to them. Every year there were parties, presents, picnics.

And then the fireworks!

“It’s wonderful to be born on the Fourth,” said Anne Bureau of Westbrook, a psychological services provider for SAD 17 who’s 39 today. “When I was little I thought the fireworks were just for me.”

Kandice Berryment of Greenwood, 19 today, said her parents decorated the house red, white and blue, as they did her birthday cake and the wrapping on her presents.

Auburn native Phil Savignano, 51 today, said he thought he was the only one born on July 4. “That is, me and Jimmy Cagney,” he said about the actor in the 1942 film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

“That was my movie, and that was my theme song.”

Savignano, outdoor program coordinator at Pineland Farms for the Libra Foundation in New Gloucester, said his family often celebrated his birthday on July 3, his mother’s birthday. He said there would be two cakes; sometimes one had sparklers.

Savignano didn’t mind celebrating early because he could get his presents sooner.

Bureau said people began to miss her birthday as she got older, not intentionally, but because there were other social events to attend.

“I had the expectation there would always be a party for me,” Bureau said.

Berryment, a cashier at Bethel Foodliner, said her July 4 celebrations in the past several years have been similar – friends gather to socialize, swim, then go to watch fireworks.

She’s not complaining.

“I get lobster, all I want, and shrimp and scallops. I like seafood,” Berryment said. “It’s Independence Day. It’s American. I just feel happy, feel independent myself.”

Independence babies

Bureau and Berryment said they did not feel any obligations came with being born on Independence Day.

“Just because I was born on the Fourth of July doesn’t mean that I dress in red, white and blue or paint my house red, white and blue,” Bureau said. “In some respects I’m very patriotic. I’m glad I live in the U.S. and glad we have the freedoms we have.”

Savignano felt there was an obligation to being born on the 4th of July.

“I’ve always had an interest in U.S. history and a little more interest in the Revolutionary War,” Savignano said. “I do well in ‘Jeopardy!’ (the TV game show) when those questions come up.

“If you’re going to be an Independence baby, it’s important to know that stuff.”

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