The Fourth Is a Real Blast in Bakersfield

BAKERSFIELD —  Retired orthodontist Charles Linfesty, 77, fired three blasts from the cannon in his backyard, but none of his neighbors complained.

They never do. They’ve grown accustomed to “Doc” Linfesty’s artillery.

Linfesty was warming up for the big Fourth of July party at a local country club today, where he will fire a few rounds for his traditional Independence Day salute to his daughter, Marcha Ann Hay, who was born July 4 and lives in the Sacramento County community of Carmichael.

He calls his daughter every Fourth of July, leaves the phone off the hook and lights the fuse.

“I do the same for our other daughter, Linda, each year on Flag Day, her birthday,” said the cannoneer.

Linfesty said that when he learned the National Park Service had ordered 10 bronze replicas of Revolutionary War cannons for the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, he contacted the foundry in New York and they made him an 11th. It set him back $3,500.

“It’s the best investment I ever made,” he said.

Linfesty hauls his gun all over the state, filling requests that include performances of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”

“I do it for fun,” he explained. “I just love to fire that cannon.”