BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTOS BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS Pyrotechnics storage and packing facility near its Hallowell office, president Steve Marson (left) helps magazine managers Patrick Fitzmaurice (right) and Marson’s son Anthony (background) gather and count shells recently for fireworks displays they are setting up across the state over the Fourth of July weekend. Buy Photo

For the past two years the Hancock County town has fronted the money for the fireworks display for the Fourth to Remember celebration and paid the funds back through donations. There’s about $10,000 in the account, but the selectmen and the fireworks committee opted not to spend the funds this year.

“Given the economy, we felt that in good conscience we couldn’t do it this year,” said Selectman Jim Schatz. “We thought that to spend that much money on something that will light things up for a few seconds and then is gone was not the thing to do. Unless we were sure we could pay the town back, we didn’t want to pull the trigger on it this year.”

Blue Hill is not alone. Across the country, there are reports that towns and organizations have canceled or cut back on fireworks celebrations this year almost universally because of the down economy. But the number is not as large as you might expect.

In Deer Isle and Stonington, they didn’t even discuss the possibility of scaling back the fireworks display this year, according to Ginger Lester, the secretary of the Deer Isle-Stonington Chamber of Commerce that sponsors the show.

“We didn’t dare,” she said. “I think there would have been a revolution.”

The two towns have had fireworks at the Fourth of July celebration for years, and a few years ago, a donation of excess fireworks from the town of Castine boosted the show by about 40 percent, Lester said.

“After that, we couldn’t go back to the old show,” she said. “We’re holding steady. We’ve got a really good show now.”

Each of the towns chips in a standard amount to help out. That covers most of the $6,000 budget for the fireworks.

Statewide, there are almost 60 fireworks shows scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend, according to a listing on the State Fire Marshal’s Web site. And although there are some reports of communities canceling or delaying their fireworks shows, including Cherryfield, which has postponed its celebration until Sept. 18, state officials said things seem to be pretty stable.

In Maine, the State Fire Marshal’s Office regulates and issues permits for all fireworks displays, both public and private. Although the office does not formally track permitting from year to year, Sgt. Tim York, a fire investigation supervisor, said investigators in the different regions tend to track it on their own. Based on their unofficial reports, he said, there does not seem to be much of a change this year.

“It seems that we’re doing as much as we have done in past years,” he said. “A few go away each year and some new ones creep in, but there hasn’t been a noticeable decline.”v Working to raise funds

In many cases, communities and organizations have had to work harder to pay for the displays.

The Bangor area holds the largest fireworks show in the region, a display that is viewed by an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people. The Bangor Fourth of July Corp., a nonprofit arm of the Bangor-Brewer Kiwanis Clubs, has been working since January with five area Kiwanis Clubs to plan for the celebration, which includes the annual parade and the fireworks display, and to raise the money for the event.

The cities of Bangor and Brewer also contribute to the event, both with funds and with in-kind services, according to corporation president Tony Bernatche, but fundraising has been tougher this year. “Raising the money has been a little more challenging this year,” Bernatche said Thursday. “Some of our donors have not been able to donate this year. But we’ve had a tremendous response from the communities, both businesses and private individuals. We’ve seen smaller dollar amounts, but we’ve had more donations, so we should surpass last year’s amount.” They’re closing in on their goal of $25,000, and as of Thursday were just $570 short. In addition to donations, the group also sells tickets for a spot on the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge to view the fireworks, Bernatche said.

“That should put us over the top,” he said. About half of the funds raised, $12,500, is allocated for the fireworks. That’s the same amount as last year, according to Bernatche, but the show will be bigger this year.

“We have a new vendor this year and the pricing is better,” he said. “We have twice as many fireworks for the same money. This will be the biggest fireworks display Bangor has seen.”

Booming business

Fireworks has become a year-round business, but the bread and butter for the industry remains the Fourth of July weekend. Steve Marson, owner, president and CEO of Central Maine Pyrotechnics Inc., said he has 55 shows scheduled for the holiday weekend in four New England states, including the show in Bangor. Those shows account for about one-third of the shows the company will shoot this year.

Business has grown in the past two years since Marson bought out his partners and began importing explosives directly from China, a move that has lowered his costs and allowed him to pack more fireworks into his shows. “That allows me to be competitive here in the state of Maine,” Marson said Tuesday. “I can compete with the bigger companies from out of state.”

The company was doing 100 shows a year when Marson took sole control. This year, he already has contracts for 164 shows. The economy has had some impact, however, he said. Customers have canceled six shows this year, including the Portland Symphony, which canceled its popular Independence Pops series in part because of a loss of endowment revenue after the decline in the stock market.

“They’ve suffered because of the economy, and that’s hit us some,” he said.

On the other hand, people are staying home because of the tight economy and that has provided an incentive to communities to continue the tradition of the Fourth of July fireworks, he said.

“Cities and municipalities are making a special effort to make sure that they continue the tradition and provide a show for those residents,” Marson said. “In my business, because people are staying home, communities want to have one day when they can have that special experience.”

Overall, he said, the economy hasn’t affected them. “The towns have continued with the shows,” he said. “Some have gone down a little, some have stayed the same, a couple have gone up.”

That may be a result of folks staying at home, he said.

“If you’re not taking that vacation to the Caribbean this year, you might be willing to donate $100 for the fireworks display,” he said.

At Blue Hill Pyrotechnics Inc. in Hampden, the story is pretty much the same. At this time of year, the handful of year-round employees swells to about 150 as the company prepares for the Fourth.

Ed Murphy, vice president of Blue Hill Pyrotechnics, said that he has heard from some municipalities that have forgone fireworks this year and funneled those funds into programs to help residents, such as heating assistance. But there have been only a few of those, he said.

“Other than that, we’re business as usual,” Murphy said Monday. “There hasn’t been any real decline. We’ve got all [the business] we want, and if you check other companies, I’m sure they’ve got what they want as well.”

That’s the situation nationwide as well, according to Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, an industry organization. Heckman said towns have worked to keep their Fourth of July fireworks celebration despite the economy.

“Organizations, particularly cities and municipalities, have fought hard to keep the tradition and continue the fireworks shows,” Heckman said Monday. “They recognize that these traditions are important to communities that have suffered. They’re a way to celebrate our freedom and independence, and they also can give these communities hope and bring back optimism.”

Still, Heckman said, the association estimates that revenues from shows between January and July 4 will be down about 5 percent this year nationwide. But, she said she expects a “banner year” in commercial sales that should offset that loss over the course of the year. The fireworks industry has been “recession-proof” in the past, and Heckman predicted the industry will surpass last year’s total sales of $940 million and reach $960 million by the end of the year.

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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