Fireworks coming back to Fourth of July celebration

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The fireworks are coming. That's the word from Phyllis Sprenkle, who is spearheading the committee to bring the Fourth of July celebration back. Last year, the sky above the Vernon County fairgrounds remained dark on Fourth of July weekend and Nevada residents were left to entertain themselves without the traditional display which had been presented by the Firefighters Local 3031 for many years.

The firefighters coordinated the display for 16 years but found it hard to raise the money needed, and some of them longed for the time to spend with family and friends.

"We just don't have the money to do it this year," Bill Thornton, president of the union at the time, said. "We lost the money from the city a couple of years ago and we kept on but we just aren't getting the support from businesses like we used to ....We talked about it and we had some who wanted to keep on going but they weren't the ones who have been doing it for 16 years. They've only been doing it a couple," of years, Thornton said. "It's a long time to miss out on family celebrations."

The firefighters looked for a group to take over the fundraising for the event when they made their decision but no one took them up at the time.

This year Sprenkle and a group of concerned citizens began a campaign to raise enough funds to bring the celebration back to town. So far the effort has raised approximately half of the money needed and Sprenkle said enough interest had been shown that she could say for sure the display would go forward, although it would have to be on Friday, July 2 because the company that puts on the displays was already booked for the fourth.

"We have enough money I think we can safely say we'll have enough for the display," Sprenkle said. "We still have some work to do but it's not insurmountable. The company that we're having do this is the same one the firefighters worked with and they've always done a good job.

"We had to take the second because the Fourth of July was already booked by the company. I think it's a good date, it's the start of the Fourth of July weekend so it gets the weekend off to a good start."

The committee is looking at more than just the fireworks, they hope to have a DJ play music at the event as well.

"I talked to the company that has been the DJ before and they usually charge $300 to $400 but they have offered to do it for $150," Sprenkle said.

The committee has an account at First National Bank and donations can be made there or by contacting Phyllis Sprenkle at (417) 884-5103 or psprenkle@

tiadon.com.

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