I’m sorry I haven’t written sooner; however, after hearing many more comments this week at my church, gym, local market, nail, and hair salon, I had to speak up.
The comment that surprised me most was, “Peachtree City fireworks are for the rich who live on the lake.” Another friend, who gathers her family and loved ones on the field at Booth Middle School, said, “The show sounded good. These last two years have been very disappointing as far as fireworks go.”
Thinking about these comments, I spoke with my dear friend who has been in fireworks for more than 30 years.
I also showed him The Citizen’s article about the fireworks where Shawn Hardy from Liberty Fireworks was interviewed and spoke in regards to his Peachtree City show.
He pointed to the line about “cakes” and said, “There’s your problem right there. They’re using cakes! Cakes should only be used for close proximity or special effects, not for shows with an audience as big as Peachtree City. He’s wrong when he said they go up 300 feet. He used 2-inch Cakes. American Pyrotechnics Association says 100 feet per inch MAX. So these cakes are only shooting up 150 to 200 feet. He had 10 cakes in his show which means there were between 360 and 1,000 shells nobody saw!”
He went on, “I’ve seen a lot of fireworks companies bid shows on shell counts. A single cake can have between 36 and 100 shells in it. What happens is these companies include each shell in the cakes in their shell count, giving the appearance that their show will contain a lot more shells for a lot less money. Thus they win the bid. Reputable companies won’t do that. They know the venue. They know that height is important in the Peachtree City show so that people at Partners, or Booth Middle, or even the Baptist church, will be able to see most of the shells. The reason for all of the complaints is Liberty used cakes.”
The bottom line is, if what he told me is true, we the citizens of Peachtree City got ripped off two years in a row by a company that cares more about money than they do about putting on a wonderful display for all of Peachtree City to enjoy.
E.M. Reid
Peachtree City, Ga.
