Young Explosives ready for its biggest fireworks show tonight at Lyndonville
Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – Stan Powers, crew leader for Young Explosives, holds a 12-inch shell that will be sent up about 1,000 feet tonight during the finale of Lyndonville’s fireworks.
The shell is in a special package in honor of the Lyndonville Lions Club’s 50th annual Fourth of July celebration.
Lyndonville is one of Young Explosives biggest fireworks shows every year, and tonight will be a record-breaker in the company’s 75-year history. Before today, the biggest fireworks show ever for Young Explosives was $50,000. The Lyndonville show tonight will top that at $50,100. That is about double the $25,000 in recent history for the Lyndonville fireworks display.
Powers has been doing the show sin Lyndonville for the past decade. He said the setting is ideal – “5 stars out of 5 stars.”
There are no nearby structures. It’s mostly hundreds of acres of fields. That allows Young Explosives to send up bigger shells. At most other sites, Young is limited to shells that are 3 and 4 inches in width and those typically go up 375 to 425 feet. At Lyndonville, Young Explosives will send up shells that are 8, 10 and 12 inches, and those big shells explode abut 1,000 feet up high.
The Lyndonville fireworks typically goes about 38 minutes. Tonight may stretch out to 45 minutes, and there will be less time in between the fireworks.
“If we do it right there should be no dark sky,” Powers said today, taking a short lunch break before he and a crew of four others returned to setting up for tonight’s show.
The fireworks usually are set off beginning at 10 p.m. Tonight it begins at 9:55 with a special “50” ground display, followed by a display of the American flag.
Wes Bradley, the fireworks chairman the past 19 years, pulls a collection container in today’s parade. Bradley is retiring as chairman of the fireworks.
Powers said he has enjoyed working with Bradley over the years. Bradley helped raise the money to give Lyndonville such a big show. He also keeps Powers and the crew in good spirits, bringing them a chicken barbecue during the busy setup.
90 West Country Band performs on a stage behind the town hall. 7th Heaven will close out the concerts from 7 to 10 p.m. at the stage.
These three are part of a crew that cooked 800 chickens for a barbecue. They include Chris Hughes, left, and his brothers-in-law, Eric Gremli of Auburn and Ryan Demorest of Syracuse. They are come to Lyndonville to help the Lions Club with the chicken barbecue. Lions Club members Mark Hughes, John Belson and Roger Wolfe recruit several family and friends for the annual task. They said they haven’t been able to see the noon parade in years.
