Published: April 25, 2010
MAHANOY CITY - Those bursts of color and light that sizzle in the night sky on Independence Day won't be seen over Mahanoy City this year.
The fireworks have been canceled and organizers are blaming lack of community support.
"This was always a community event, never a fundraiser," Good American Hose Company President Tony Aschman said recently. "All the money we got went into the fireworks."
Aschman said the fireworks cost about $6,500 the past two years, along with the cost of the DJ to entertain the crowd and other miscellaneous expenses.
The fire company and borough fire police provided security at no cost.
The fire company solicited door-to-door for donations and a donation box was placed at the entrance to Alumni Stadium, where the event was held each year.
Donations have been down and for the last two years the company lost about $1,200 each year, according to Aschman.
"We just can't support that kind of loss," he said.
Aschman said the fire company took over the fireworks in the 1970s from the Mahanoy City Lions Club.
"The Lions used to shoot them off at the Sixth Street Playground," Aschman said. "When the group got too small, they were going to give it up, so we took it over rather than see the town without fireworks."
The fireworks moved to the high school football stadium and went off almost yearly until the early 1980s when the educational complex was being built and the stadium torn down.
"There may have been three or four years when we didn't have them because of construction," Aschman said.
Once the buildings and new stadium were in place the event started up again.
Aschman said it is tough to tell how many people attended the yearly event because it is free to the public and a head count is not taken.
Community organizations that sold items at the fireworks events may also lose money.
Both the Mahanoy Area Bear Band Boosters and Midget Football Boosters opened concession stands each year offering food for sale.
"We will definitely miss the money that we earned at the concession stand, and we will definitely need to find an alternate fundraiser to replace the revenue from that event," Kathy Leahy, band booster president said.
"The fireworks have been a part of Mahanoy City's Independence Day celebration as long as I have lived here (since the '80s) and I am very sorry to see them go away," Leahy said. "I have many fond memories of the evenings spent at the stadium while my children were young - watching them gaze at the display with wide-eyed wonder. People from all over the area attended the fireworks and it was a great way to get people into our community, even for one night."
Aschman said, even if someone was generous enough to fund the display, it may be too late to host the event this year, since contracts with the fireworks supplier are usually signed in February.
Other communities
A few years ago, Frackville looked for co-sponsorship for its yearly event.
The Goodwill Hose Company, Frackville, found a co-sponsor in the Schuylkill Mall several years ago, although that meant moving the display to the mall parking lot.
In 2008, Brian Dillman, Goodwill's fireworks committee chairman at the time, said the fire company had been looking for a co-sponsor for a few years.
The fire company sponsored the display for 15 years prior to 2008 and the cost to the company continued to rise, he said.
Dillman blamed insurance costs after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks for the increase.
Schuylkill Mall Manager Elaine Maneval said in 2008 that she hoped the fireworks display could be bigger and better by combining resources.
Contacted on Monday, Maneval said the mall management is still in negotiations with the fire company regarding sponsorship of this year's event. Phone calls to Goodwill Fire Company representatives were not returned.
American Hose Company No. 1 of Ashland will sponsor the annual Thunder Over Ashland fireworks for the 15th year.
According to event co-chairman Phil Groody, the fire company is having no trouble keeping the public's interest or support.
"This year we are adding barbecue pit beef to our food menu along with homemade black kettle bean soup," Groody said. "Along with everything else the cost keeps rising each year which makes a challenge to meet expenses, but the Ashland community has been very good us with strong financial support even in these tough economic times."
Groody said the fire company will distribute donation cans within the next week and contribution letters will be sent to the business community to help defray the cost of the display.
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