The Fireworks Fall on Friday, the Fourth
Russ Baldwin | Jul 03, 2014 | Comments 0
This year’s annual fireworks display at the Prowers County Fairgrounds will start at about 9:20pm, according to Lamar Fire Chief Marshall Cook. The 4th falls on a Friday this year and fair skies have been predicted for that evening. Cook said with all the recent local rainfall, there is not much of a chance of a runaway fire in the fields from any short round rocket burst.
Cook said as in every year before, the paid and volunteer members of the Lamar Fire Department will start to set up their firing center around 11am, laying in all the electric wiring and loading the mortar tubes with the rocketry for the night’s display. “It turns out to be our busiest day,” Cook explained. “It’s usually our longest day as well, as we start to set up early in the day, shoot off all the fireworks that evening, and as the audience starts to head home, we start our clean up that lasts until after midnight.”
Volunteers still help with collecting the annual estimated $8,000 needed to finance the display and the fireworks are always bought a year ahead, so whatever is being collected currently is going to the 2015 event. The fire chief said the city now uses a holding account in its budget that is rolled over to the coming year. “We have about $1,000 in there now and our auxiliary department does a lot of work in collecting funds,” he said. Cook mentioned that there will probably be a couple of golf carts circulating among the parked cars around the fairgrounds on Friday, with department members seeking donations.
“One or two dollars is a small fee for the entertainment, and a lot of out of town visitors to Lamar will probably spend time and money buying some snacks or drive-thru dining, getting some gas or doing some early shopping before the display begins. It’s one extra local event that helps add to our economy each year,” Cook stated.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Business • community • County • Economy • Entertainment • Events • Featured • Festival • Fire Department-Responders • Lamar • Prowers County • Public Safety • Recreation • Tourism • Weather
About the Author: