AMESBURY — Fireworks have long been a source of our country's pride, woven into our national anthem by Francis Scott Key, and thought to have illuminated the sky at America's first ever Independence Day celebration in 1777.
So even as the country reels from record job losses and surging unemployment rates, Amesbury, Salisbury, Hampton and many other towns feel this is no time to skimp when it comes to the traditional Fourth of July fireworks display.
Atlas Pyrotechnics has approximately 200 shows planned for the Fourth of July holiday, including Amesbury's, and although some communities have canceled due to poor finances, general manager Matt Shea says his company is having a banner year.
"It's actually our busiest Fourth of July we've ever had," Shea said. "Part of it has to do with the economy, as silly as that might sound, and part of it is that this is the first time in 14 years we've had Fourth of July fall on a Saturday."
With the rainy weather pattern that's been hanging around for weeks expected to break by tomorrow, Shea said most shows should go off without a hitch.
Amesbury secured enough funding to make this year's annual display at Woodsom Farm more spectacular than ever — doubling the amount of shells and the show length thanks to generous donations it's received from Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, Provident Bank and others.
"We've been successful at fundraising over the last couple years, so we wanted to make that a bit of a treat for the community given all the other issues that everybody's dealing with, with the economy and such," Mayor Thatcher Kezer said. "We bumped up the fireworks a bit to make it a really good show."
Like many municipalities forced to strip fireworks from their town budgets, Amesbury has been holding fundraisers for its $14,000 show for the past few years, and with great success.
While communities like Lowell and Ipswich cut shows from their budgets this year, Amesbury wants to remain one of the premier fireworks destinations on the northeast coast.
"We're kind of flying in the opposite direction of the trend," Kezer said. "From my perspective, that's a tribute to the people who have stepped up to the plate to contribute despite the fiscal challenge they're facing. The Fourth of July has special meaning, I think, for all of us, and we're not going to let that slip."
According to Shea, this year's Amesbury show will feature a new kind of shell — called the red, white and blue twitter shell — made up of red and blue bouquets of color followed by a delayed explosion of crackling stars. The show will feature more midway barrages, more assortments and more special effects, and Shea said guests should expect to stay a little longer than last year.
"They're going to basically see twice the size show, longer and more layered," Shea said. "They go up a little higher so they are layered. It's more of that theater look versus the traditional one-at-a-time and then a finale."
Shea said he expects families won't have the money to travel or take extravagant summer vacations this year, making fireworks celebrations more popular than ever. And since the demand is there, he sees more volunteers working harder to try to raise the money for the displays.
"It has been hard," Shea said. "Sponsorships have been down dramatically for a lot of these communities. But because a lot of these are set up as committees and can get additional monies, they just had to work a lot harder. To a certain degree it's hats off to those people who have worked three times harder this year to come up with nontraditional ways to generate the revenue."
That's how Salisbury Beach's Beach Partnership and Chamber of Commerce managed to bring weekly Saturday night fireworks back to the Center this year.
Weekend fireworks displays had been a tradition at Salisbury Beach, dating back decades.
Salisbury put the kibosh on the weekly shows some years ago, but with the use of a new barge and the support of developer Wayne Capolupo and area merchants, the shows will once again go on every Saturday night through the summer.
"Fireworks are pretty synonymous with Salisbury Beach," said Salisbury Chamber of Commerce Treasurer Donna Abdulla. "Fireworks are something that everyone enjoys. I don't think there is an age barrier."
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