‘We’ll come back bigger and better’
No Fourth of July community celebration in Lyndonville due to Covid-19; Lions Club looks forward to next year
File photos by Tom Rivers: With no fireworks in Lyndonville today, we pulled out our file photos of past shows, including this one from July 4, 2018.
LYNDONVILLE – There are no fireworks in Lyndonville tonight. The community in recent years has hosted one of the biggest Fourth of July fireworks shows in Western New York, about 40 minutes of big booms and bright lights.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions on crowd sizes prompted the Lyndonville Lions Club to cancel a festival that includes a parade, arts and crafts vendors, chicken barbecue, tractor pull and fireworks show.
This would have been the 46th annual event by the Lions Club.
The fireworks show usually begins with a lighted up American flag and many colorful fireworks. This photo is from July 4, 2016.
Wes Bradley has been the fireworks chairman since 2006. He normally checks in on the crew from Young Explosives during the day, and brings them a chicken barbecue and beverages.
During there fireworks show, there are many hundreds of people on the school lawns, sitting on blankets and lawn chairs.
“There really isn’t a way to socially distance this,” he said.
People pull up on side roads to watch the fireworks. The line up by the bridge and at the Veterans Park.
“It is certainly is a very different year,” Bradley said today. “We’re disappointed we can’t do what we always have done for the village and town.”
Bradley spent part of the morning trimming a trim at his yard. He is grilling chicken this afternoon and he and his wife will have a friend over later for dinner. Bradley plans to watch the fireworks on TV.
He is looking forward to next year, when he hopes a big crowd can again descend upon Lyndonville for the parade and fireworks.
“We’ll come back bigger and better,” he said. “My plan for next year is to have the largest fireworks show we’ve ever had. I expect next year we’ll have a super crowd.”
The fireworks are reflected in Johnson Creek in this photo taken from Veterans Park on July 4, 2014.
The Lyndonville Lions Club posted this message on its Facebook page: “Our club would like to wish everyone a very happy, safe, and healthy 4th of July. We may not be together this year, but know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Words can not express how much we will miss celebrating with you. We love you Lyndonville!! Blessings to you all.”
Shaun Kelly of Kent and other family members release five Chinese lanterns on July 4, 2017. The family does it in memory of Shaun’s nephew, Trenton Nelson, who died at age 16 on June 2, 2015 after being fatally stabbed in Rochester.
Lyndonville has been the place to be in Orleans County for the Fourth of July for decades.
This fireworks watcher takes in the sights and sounds of the show from a lawn chair on July 4, 2013.
These fireworks are shown through a row of trees next to the school’s soccer field in this photo from July 4, 2015.
Last year’s fireworks show ended with a spectacle of sound and light in the sky.
