Firefighters plan fireworks show

It is beginning to look like Lake Havasu City residents won’t be without a fireworks display this Fourth of July, but in order for it to happen, they may need to lend a hand.

The Lake Havasu Professional Firefighters Association is looking to take the display to the next level with the city’s first Lake Havasu Freedom Festival and Fireworks Show, but donations are going to be needed.

“The biggest hurdle is the funding mechanism,” organizer and firefighter Tony Rivello said.

The LHPFAA is currently working on getting donations. Rivello says if everyone just contributed a little to the cause, he thinks they could make the cost target of between $30,000 and $35,000 for the event. Last year, Rivello said the fireworks display cost the city approximately $27,500. He said he figures the cost of the fireworks display would be around $30,000, with an approximately $5,000 more going to other entertainment.

Incentives are being offered for high-dollar donations. The firefighters will provide food for anyone who donates $500 or more in a special VIP section at Rotary Park.

Fellow organizer and firefighter Greg Tryon said the VIP section would offer one of the best views of the fireworks, which are set to go off at Spectator Point around 9 p.m. and look to bigger than ever before.

“It should be larger than what we’ve had in the past,” firefighter Greg Tryon said. “We want to try and make it as big as possible.”

The LHPFAA, in conjunction with Round Eyes Fireworks and Lantis Fireworks, will hold a meeting tonight to discuss plans for the event. Residents can come and sign up to volunteer for the event. Tryon said volunteers are needed to help with crowd control, traffic, dealing with vendors and organizing entertainment and games for kids.

The festival will begin at 4 p.m. at Rotary Park, near the Skate Park.

Attendees will be treated to 50-cent hot dogs or pizza and 25-cent sodas and snow cones from food vendors. A beer garden is currently under consideration.

There will also be plenty for the kids to enjoy, including watermelon-eating and pie-eating contests, water slides and water balloons, an egg toss and “Junkyard Wars,” where families will have an opportunity to build their own cardboard boats to sail out into the lake.

Tryon said ultimately, the size of the event would depend on the amount of donations received. Since Lake Havasu City Hall cut sponsorship of the fireworks display as part of recent budget cuts, local organizations have scrambled to provide a fireworks display.

If Lake Havasu City ends up without a fireworks display this year, Rivello says there could be repercussions in the future. He said the concern is what impact it would have financially and upon the image of the city.

“We all kind of realize in a resort town like Lake Havasu City, you have to have a 4th of July fireworks display,” he said.

Several churches and service groups have already gotten involved, Tryon said. The association has also received some heavy endorsements from the Lake Havasu Convention & Visitors Bureau, Lake Havasu City Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Freedom Bridge Foundation, Mad Dog Wireless and local radio stations.

Tryon said they should have a better idea of what would be possible after tonight’s meeting. The meeting is being held at 6:30 p.m. at Fire Station No. 2 on Kiowa Boulevard.

The LHPFAA is looking for as many volunteers as possible. Rivello and Tryon both said the more volunteers they can get the merrier.

June 7 is the deadline to raise funds for the festival and display.

If they pull it off, Rivello says the hard work will be worth it.

“It really should be a great day for everybody,” he said.

You may contact this reporter at twaggoner@havasunews.com.

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