Friday, Jul. 09, 2010
Contest, light show prove popular at Fourth of July event
By Charles Guest / cguest@losbanosenterprise.com
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ReprintIndependence Day in Los Banos this year meant continuing longtime traditions.
Two customs that converge each Fourth of July are the Little Miss & Mr. Firecracker Contest and the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce's aerial fireworks show. Both events were free to the public.
Starting late in the afternoon, Turner's Dance Explosion and the Chamber of Commerce presented the annual Little Miss & Mr. Firecracker Contest. The competition for girls and boys is something of a pageant mixed with a talent show.
The Firecracker event featured more than 30 children and continued almost until dusk.
Susan Nuno, mother of participant Ciarra Marie Nuno, was pleased.
"We thought it was lots of fun," she said. "It went a little long, but it was well worth it. There was a lot of talent and a lot of different styles ... we thought it was great."
Her daughter was a lot more effusive.
Ciarra Nuno won Little Miss Firecracker Queen in the 8- to 9-year-old age group.
"I was very excited for them to call my name," said CiarraNuno, who had performed a dance routine to the song "California Girls."
"I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I won,' " she said. "My grandmother was all over me."
Susan Nuno said Ciarra, who won a crown, a trophy and a sash, proudly wore the sash for the rest of the evening.
After the children's competition, families mingled and enjoyed food from several vendor booths that lined the path leading to the east side of the Los Banos Fairgrounds, the gathering place to watch the free fireworks show.
Rhonda Lowe, the newly elected president of the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, estimated that the crowd swelled to more than 1,000 as dusk approached.
"The Fourth of July is always one of those holidays where people are going out of town, so we never know exactly how many people are going to show up for the event," she said.
As dusk neared, activity quickened near a fenced-off area behind the fairgrounds. There, Howard Angelman and his crew had spent the afternoon erecting hundreds of Zambelli Fireworks launch tubes.
Earlier in the day, members of the Los Banos Fire Department did a safety inspection of Angelman's setup. The firefighters inspected each launch tube for anything that could be problematic, including contamination, cracks, stability and other potential issues that might result in problems.
As darkness fell, foreman John Geiger gathered his "fireworks shooters" together, gave one final safety briefing, went over the launch sequence, and then told the hard-hat clad crew to take their places.
On Geiger's command, the shooters each lit a road flare and began the orderly process of lighting the fuses that ignited the charges that threw the shells skyward with a bang.
The crowd at the fairgrounds had an outstanding view of the pyrotechnics as the shells burst and rained down for about 20 minutes.
A few seconds after Alexander Kalis lit the final two fuses and the double-decker grand finale erupted overhead, the crowd whooped and burst into applause.
Across town however, it was a different story for those who chose to create their own aerial displays.
This year, 27 citations were issued for "dangerous and illegal fireworks" used in the two weeks leading up to the holiday. According to Assistant Fire Chief Tim Marrison, the police issued 16 citations, the fire department issued seven and code enforcement handed out four.
The fire department had previously told the community about hefty new fines and had issued a warning that said, in part, "All violations issued for Dangerous and Illegal fireworks will be subject to a minimum of $1,250 fine for each and every violation."
Marrison was disappointed to see the amount of dangerous fireworks activity throughout the city.
"We were hoping that our aggressive advertising of a zero-tolerance approach would be enough to make the violators re-think the use of dangerous fireworks," he said.
Marrison also noted that enforcement activities did not stop on July 4.
"We're hoping that the word will get out that the city of Los Banos will continue to aggressively enforce state and local laws regulating fireworks and we will see a dramatic decrease in the activity next year," he said. "Our enforcement actions and zero-tolerance policies will continue throughout the year."