HAMILTON — Before the Bitterroot turns red, white, and blue this Fourth of July, there is a lot of planning that goes on behind the scenes so that community events can go off with a bang.
“We check all of our electronic shooting stuff and then we were cleaning tubes. We'd clean out everything from the years before, clean off all the wires. And then we sit and we, we call wire, which is we put the wires, the E-match on the shells," Bubba Riley Fireworks Coordinator explained.
Riley has the job of getting 20 grand of fireworks ready for launching. “This is 20,000 for the city show this year,” he said showing off rows of fireworks.
Getting ready for Hamilton’s Fourth of July involves a lot of hands-on work, not only for fireworks teams.
“We're the venue for them," said Ravalli County Fairgrounds Manager Melissa Saville. "So, we need to make sure that they have everything they have available so that they can have like the best fireworks show they've ever put on.”
Ravalli County Fairgrounds crews are getting the grounds ready for one of the biggest celebrations of the year.
“It makes me actually feel really proud of our community getting together. The fair staff is putting out picnic tables and garbage cans and making sure bathrooms are stocked and clean because we know that this could be an event that brings in a couple of 1,000 people,” detailed Saville.
Once the grand finale is over, the City of Hamilton is already looking ahead to the next year.
“I know that the mayor is already prepping for the year the next year, saving money working with a buyer, their contractor, that sort of thing, to make sure that they can plan ahead," Saville noted.
However, it’s not just Hamilton that’s putting on a big show in the sky. The Florence Volunteer Fire Department is too.
“We start all of our, all of our planning about two, three months in advance with contacting different business owners for donations. You know, the more money that we're able to raise offsets the cost and then we can put on a bigger fireworks show,” shared Florence Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Peter Metzger.
Normally, one wouldn’t think of a fire department setting off fireworks, but they actually do it for safety. Metzger said they do not have to run to as many calls with more people attending their event. “Bringing everybody together has helped with the fire prevention side of things,” he stated.
Plus, they want to get the town together for a night of fun.
“That's something that we really enjoy, especially as, you know, Florence, we're kind of a smaller town. And so having that, smaller hometown community feeling and everybody coming together and just having fun and enjoying themselves. It’s refreshing," Metzger shared.
