Tyler

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

Last night spectators at Lindsey Park came to witness something banned in all 50 states. During the finale of Tyler Jaycees’ 45th annual Independence Day celebration a now-illegal 16-inch-in-diameter, 70-pound shell that upon reaching its pinnacle, 1,600 feet in the air, was expected to explode in an array of colors, illuminating the night sky in an 1,800-foot-diameter display that fireworks contractor Tom Tierce said could easily be seen from miles away. However, it exploded in the tube and never made it into the sky.

Tierce, a fireworks contractor for Atlas Enterprises out of Fort Worth, said since new import laws took effect classifying the 16-inch explosive with dynamite, nitroglycerin and TNT the shells are becoming rare for shows now that they are illegal. The one used for the Jaycees celebration came from one of the company’s warehouse and was purchased prior to the ban. A disappointed Tierce said, after the show, that his best guess was that sometime in storage the shell was dampened leading to the failure. The crowd still witnessed an amazing show.

“These folks paid for a good show and I plan on giving them one,” Tierce said pre-show as his pyrotechnic team prepared for the 20-minute display. “When the finale goes off I want to be able to sit back and read the paper. That’s how bright it will be.”

Tierce and his team prepared around 700 fireworks for the show. Tierce’s set up includes three- to 10-inch explosives, plus the 16-inch behemoth. It took his crew around five hours to prepare the fireworks battery for the 20-minute rapid-fire display. The showstopper was set up inside a metal garbage dumpster about 50 yards away from the main firing line.

For the finale, 160 shells and the 16-incher fired in 20 seconds, Tierce said.

“We are looking for them to light up the sky,” said Jaycee co-chair for the celebration Jen Cook earlier in the afternoon. “It’s a community event and we want to provide a safe family friendly environment for families to come out and celebrate the Fourth of July.”

Ms. Cook and co-chair Shannan Bryamp said Tyler Jaycees raised and spent more than $16,000 for fireworks this year, exceeding previous years, making it the biggest to date. Ms. Bryamp said this year’s event drew between 10,000 and 15,000 spectators to Lindsey Park. She said each year the event increases in size and stature and that this year’s fireworks display should have people talking. The Jaycees raise money for the celebration and other community sponsored events through fundraising programs throughout the year, Ms. Cook said. Both Ms. Cook and Ms. Bryamp said the organization lose money on the celebration but recoup some of the money through fundraising and sponsorships.

Tyler resident Kenneth Jaymes brought his family out to attend the Jaycee celebration. He said he has attended several in past years and said they are usually fantastic displays. His family traveled to Longview Thursday night, he said, as he sat in the shade of his campsite, sipping a cold drink waiting to make a comparison. All the talk is about the big shell. This makes the sixth Jaycees celebration that he has brought his 12-year-old daughter Elizabeth to. Jaymes and his family said gatherings like this represent things remembered as family. He said he really can’t explain what ties fireworks and Independence Day together other than that it is an American tradition. Upon deeper pondering he said the bond might tie in with the “Star Spangled Banner” and the famous line about rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air, then again delegated to tradition.

“At Christmas time we put presents under the tree, Thanksgiving we have turkey and on the Fourth we have fireworks,” Jaymes said. “We’re here to celebrate the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s birthday. I guess fireworks signify the revolution.”

Elizabeth said she just thinks they’re pretty.

ROCKET’S RED GLARE: A spectator watches fireworks during the Tyler Jaycees’ Fourth of July celebration on Friday at Lindsay Park in Tyler.
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)