Written By Scott Braden
About an hour after sundown on July 4 (approximately 9:30 p.m.) the Fireworks Extravaganza company of Rochelle Park, N.J., will set off the annual fireworks display at Westminster’s Farm Museum.
According to Tom Welliver, treasurer, fireworks coordinator and fundraiser coordinator for the Kiwanis Club of Westminster, the club hires Fireworks Extravaganza to design, set up and set off the fireworks.
John Sagaria, president of Fireworks Extravaganza, heads the family business that began 18 years ago to shoot off fireworks at various places in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The company has provided fireworks displays for the Carroll County Farm Museum since 2000.
“All of our displays are special,” said Sagaria. “We take the same amount of care performing a show for a small wedding as we do for large municipalities.
“We have several different kinds of speciality shells,” he said. “We do smiley faces with strobing eyes and a crackling beard, aqua jellyfish, sunflowers, and red lanterns with whirling fountains, just to name a few.”
During the months before July 4, Welliver said, the Kiwanis holds fundraiser events and works with the Farm Museum to get the necessary permits from the fire marshal and the state police.
“We bring in three charity groups to help us during the day of the fireworks,” said Welliver, “In the past it is been the Westminster Wolves Soccer Program, the Ag Center, and the Westminster Community of Shalom. They help us with parking and raising money.
“The program ends up costing somewhere around $25,000, which includes the fireworks, tower lights, port-a-pots and security, among other things.”
As for the number of people who attend the fireworks, Welliver said that the Museum usually parks about 10,000 to 11,000 cars on the evening of the event, and estimates attendance at about 15,000 to 20,000 onlookers on the Museum’s grounds.
A well-performed display takes a great deal of time and care, said Sagaria. Once Fireworks Extravaganza receives its fireworks from China, they need to be sorted and tested.
The company, said Sagaria, has annual refresher training for all their pyrotechnicians to make sure they are educated in all the new federal rules and regulations. Then there are the necessary permits to be obtained.
Each show must be choreographed. There is a script to be created, fireworks to be assembled, labeled and packaged properly under federal regulations.
“Then,” said Sagaria, “we pack the truck that will transport the fireworks, racks and supplies needed to perform the display. All of that takes time. On some larger shows the set up time for a display could be two or three days; all for an event that lasts for only 20 minutes.”
The preparation is painstaking and time-consuming on the part of Fireworks Extravaganza, but anyone who has attended a fireworks show will tell you that the experience is well worth the effort.
July 4 Celebrations at a Glance
Old-Fashioned July 4th Celebration
July 4, 2013, Begins at Noon, Carroll County
Farm Museum, Westminster. 410-386-3880, www.carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org
Celebration includes onstage entertainment, children’s games, food and crafts for sale and fireworks.
Fireworks Summer Saturday at River Valley Ranch
June 29, 2013, Noon- 9:30 p.m., River Valley Ranch, Manchester. www.rivervalleyranch.com
Free Rodeo at 4 p.m., Chuckwagon Supper at 5 p.m., patriotic concert at 7 p.m. and fireworks after dark (about 9 p.m.). Jack and Erin from 95.1 SHINE-FM will broadcast from the ranch from 4-7 p.m. Admission is $5 per person for those 3 years old and older.(No more than $20 per car).Grounds open at noon.
Senior centers have special July 4th luncheons.
