Keeping Our July 4 Tradition Alive

Healdsburgers owe a debt of gratitude to our local American Legion and the donors who somehow find the money to continue our tradition of the best small town fireworks show on the face of the earth. Last night I took friends who have seen the fireworks at the Washington Mall in D.C. and they were simply blown away by our grand finale-which just gets bigger and better each year. Wow! Can we scream any louder??

In 2008 I interviewed Lorraine Plass, our local Post Commander. And she told me:

“This will be the 18th year that the American Legion has sponsored the fireworks in Healdsburg...  Dave Abbott, Bud Simmons and I are the Fireworks Committee with the support of about 30 other Legion members... But since last year, we are coming up short financially.

“We’ve funded the fireworks ever since the city banned home fireworks in 1990. The American Legion went to the City Council in 1991, saying, ‘The 4th of July isn’t the 4th without fireworks!’ So we volunteered to set up safe fireworks. It’s always been handled by a small group of us with other organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the Kiwanis and Rotarians helping on the day of the event. 

"Last year (2007) the Fireworks Committee was short $6,000 and this year (2008) they’ve had to transfer money from other Legion funds (usually spent on helping veterans) to make certain that the exquisite show that we anticipate will go on. Traditionally the Legion has relied on contributions from local citizens and businesses to actually make this thing happen. Now, the contributions just aren’t coming. Many people think the show is free. They don’t realize that the money must come from somewhere."

Shonnie: So if this was true in 2007 and 2008, just where do we get the money to create the best small town fireworks show anywhere? I think we must consider this well before July 4, 2010.