Biggest fireworks show yet will cap the Fourth in Lyndonville
Lions Club ready for its 50th anniversary July 4 celebration; Flyover and cornhole part of festivities
Photos by Tom Rivers: Fireworks burst in the sky during the finale of last year’s show in Lyndonville. This year’s display will be the largest yet in Lyndonville.
LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville Lions Club will put on its 50th annual Fourth of July celebration, and the bash will include the largest fireworks show in Lyndonville’s history.
The annual fireworks show is already one if the biggest in Western New York, typically lasting 38 to 40 minutes, said Wes Bradley, the fireworks chairman the past 19 years.
Provided photo: Gerald “Shorty” Nellist will serve as grand marshal of the parade that starts at noon.
The fireworks on Thursday will go about 45 to 50 minutes.
The contract with Young Explosives is the biggest in the company’s 75-year history, Bradley said.
There will be a ground display starting at 9:55 p.m., commemorating the 50th anniversary celebration. Then there will be an additional ground display featuring the American flag and then the finale with the fireworks high in the sky.
The celebration also will include a military flyover for the third straight year. It honors veterans, including this year’s parade grand marshal, Gerald “Shorty” Nellist. He is the oldest surviving World War II veteran in Orleans County. Harold Suhr, Lions Club president and Nellist’s son-in-law, said it is an honor to have “Shorty” leading the parade, which this year honors the soldiers from the “Greatest Generation” on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.
The ceremonial flyover will be carried out by the 911th Air Lift Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserves in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
The flyover is scheduled at 11:55 a.m., just before the parade starts at noon. Route 63 will be temporarily closed to traffic 15 minutes before the flyover.
The Lions Club also announces there will be a cornhole tournament on the school grounds. The tournament is a double elimination format and will be sponsored by Dubby’s Tailgate. For more information call (585) 283-4347. Those not in the tournament but wishing to try the game can do so free of charge, courtesy of Dubby’s Tailgate, the Lions Club said.
This year’s celebration will be the largest event ever produced by the Lyndonville Lions Club, Suhr said. Expanded parade bands, and the largest fireworks display ever carried out by Young Explosives are just a few things to look for, he said.
The schedule for bands includes:
- 90 West, playing country music from 2 to 5 p.m. at the main stage on Main Street
- Mike McCauley’s One Man Band, starting at 4:30 p.m. on the school grounds
- 7th Heaven, from 7 to 10 p.m. at main stage on Main Street
A military flyover will be back for the third straight year. This photo shows the airplane passing over Lyndonville. It did it twice just before last year’s parade. The plane came from the 911th United States Air Force Reserve from Pittsburgh, Pa.
