Published: July 01, 2009 02:58 pm      

Gettysburg-era technology helps fuel holiday fireworks displays

Fire and explosions are usually associated with war and sundry disasters, but there is one time when using black powder explosives is patriotic — the Fourth of July. Big crowds gather to watch fireworks shooters lob skyrockets that burst and send fountains of red, white, blue, green and other colors over the summer skies. They listen for the thunderous booms and the powerful retorts that echo as the flashes dim. For many, a good fireworks show is the height of a good July 4 celebration.

I can remember watching fireworks shows, but my best memories were formed when I actually helped with the celebration. This opportunity came when Bill Craft of the Craft Family Shooters invited me to help with a “shoot.”

During these experiences, I learned about the true power of black powder — definitely not a toy for the casually minded. It’s the same sort of stuff Union and Confederate artillery crews used to hurl cannonballs at each other.

In fact, using skyrockets — shells, really — isn’t much different from the days of Gettysburg. First, you have to partially bury a steel tube at an angle in the ground, then buttress it with sandbags to help guard against an explosion. The set-up is reminiscent of mortar tubes used during World War II.

The shells themselves look somewhat like paper mache cannonballs. The sphere portion contains the colored charge, and the second half — resembling a coffee can — is the charge that gets the shell skyward. It’s all wrapped in brown paper, and so is the black powder fuse that ignites it. The shell goes into the steel tube for launching.

When the fuse is lit, it burns fast. With a huge noise the shell heads up with a cough of acrid black smoke, sparks and burning paper falls like hot rain. You’ll get a burn or two if you aren’t careful.

My job was to root burning paper and sparks out of the tubes before another shell was dropped in. Again, the whole process was just like firing a cannon. I took a pole with nails stuck on the end and rooted out sparks so a shell wouldn’t go off in our faces.

We kept the shells in coolers to keep the sparks away, and I started wearing a ball cap and a jacket despite the warm weather; that kept the sparks off. One time the practice saved me from a serious burn.

I was helping shoot a fireworks show at the Tazewell County Fairgrounds. A new guy had joined us, so I was showing him how to clean out the tubes before another shot was fired. Everything went well, but in the middle of the show he started pounding my back.

I looked at him. He shouted, “Didn’t you feel that?!”

A wad of flaming paper had landed between my shoulders. In this case my precautions had worked a little too well. I really didn’t feel anything and might have caught fire if it wasn’t for my teammate’s quick thinking.

I loved the smoke, the noise and the explosions despite the dangers, and knowing the crowd loved the results so much was a plus. We once had fireworks for children at Camp Joy in Tazewell County, Va. After that show was over and the all-clear was announced, children came running up and hugged us, they were so overjoyed.

One point for me was the fact that those children had a great time with no risks to themselves. Seeing a show managed by professionals is the safest way to enjoy fireworks this Fourth of July. It’s much easier than trying to play with fireworks yourself, and you’re less likely to get a piece of burning paper on your back.

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A well-run campaign and lots of enthusiastic local support gave a Montcalm High School student the most online votes for a scholarship at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. Brooke Alexandra Bailey had almost 3,000 votes when they were counted, but this outpouring of good will was not quite enough.

The online voting was just one part of the competition, said Bob Skinner, the college’s director of marketing and communications. Judges on the scholarship committee assigned points and weighed those along with the votes. When the total points were counted, the winner had 159 points, and Bailey had 149 points, putting her in fourth place.

“Brooke ran a great campaign, and she didn’t do badly in what was a very close competition,” Skinner said.

Despite coming from one of the smaller high schools in the competition, Bailey was able to garner a lot of support. Mercer County Judge Omar Aboulhosn and Greg Prudich, president of the Mercer County Board of Education, responded to her requests for help and forwarded e-mails all over Mercer County and beyond.

Mercer County’s students can compete an on equal level with students from across West Virginia and well beyond, and Bailey’s accomplishment proves that very well.

Greg Jordan is a reporter for the Daily Telegraph. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com