New Farmington fireworks location is mostly positive

People are seen Monday night, July 3, in Meetinghouse Park during the Western Maine Foothills Band concert in Farmington. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

FARMINGTON — The new location for the fireworks Monday night, July 3, saw mostly positive reactions.

This year they were set off from the field directly behind the Narrow Gauge Cinemas drive-in screen.

Many people took advantage of a day finally without rain. Some were seen enjoying the Western Maine Foothills Band concert in Meetinghouse Park. Others made their way early to locations near Narrow Gauge Cinemas. Kendric Charles of Kingfield and his horse-drawn wagon rides provided by John Moore were a big hit.

Brothers Jonathan Beaudette of Wilton and Carl Beaudette of Jay and their children stopped to say ‘hi’ to the Belgian draft horses Charlie and Ernie. Charles said he has had Charlie six months, was being used instead of Bert as Bert would be in a pulling event Tuesday.

As dusk approached, more people were seen making their way down Pleasant and Front streets. Some chose places near the Narrow Gauge Cinemas parking lot while others continued down into the fields to set up their chairs and blankets.

Exclamations were heard when the first shell lit up the night sky. Cheers greeted smiley faces, those that looked like planets and when several shells burst into color almost at the same time. The finale was also greeted with enthusiasm.

Jonathan Beaudette of Wilton, at left holds his son, Ethan, while brother Carl of Jay, at right holds his daughter Madilynn Monday night July 3, in a field near the Narrow Gauge Cinemas in Farmington. Belgian draft horses Charlie, at left and Ernie owned by Kendric Charles of Kingfield provided free wagon rides prior to the fireworks display. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

When asked Wednesday morning if the new location worked, organizer John Moore said, “Mostly yes and a little bit no.”

Moore works with Central Maine Pyrotechnics. From their standpoint the location suited when considering safety, accessibility and keeping people away from where the shells were being set off, he noted.

Sparklers were not allowed this year. The wet weather took away the fire risk, but in future years that might not be the case, Moore stated.

There was no debris, so clean up was easier, Moore said.

In prior years, people parked in the University of Maine Farmington lot off Front Street and made their way onto the athletic fields nearby. “UMF spends tens of thousands of dollars on those fields,” Moore said. “Moving away from there makes a lot of sense. There has been no major damage, but are we good or are we lucky?”

With the weather conditions the way they were, there was only a 50/50 chance of the fireworks being held, Moore noted. If a rain date had been needed, the forecast for the weekend wasn’t looking good, he stated. That being the case, not so much was put into the finale as is normally seen, he added.

People who gathered in the middle field, as suggested, had a gorgeous view of the fireworks, Moore said. Those who chose the Leib soccer field or went further down towards the big field had the tree line to contend with, couldn’t see some of the lower ones, he noted.

“Next year we will tweak the size of the shells,” Moore said. “Instead of two and a half inches they will be three to three and a half.” Event organizers are always smarter afterwards, they learn things once the event has been held, he noted.

There was some harping online and a lot of positive comments, Moore said. He expected more complaints than there were.

“Fireworks are really expensive,” Moore stated. “Everything has gone up, you are not going to see a 45-minute show.” He said it would probably be 20 to 22 minutes maximum, what is wanted is a buildup to the finale.

“People don’t like change,” Moore noted. “Next year we will work on getting the message out to viewers.”