Date: Fri 05-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

fireworks-lack-of

Full Text:

Fireworks In Newtown: Just A Fading Memory

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Fourth of July picnics and celebrations still go on in Newtown each year, but

it's been 11 years since this town has seen a real community celebration.

On or about Independence Day each summer, Dickinson Park was the place to be

as the town's sponsored pyrotechnics show drew thousands of residents to Elm

Drive to recognize the birth of a nation with a bang.

Of course, the best place to watch the evening show was in the area around the

Dickinson pool, where ground shows provided entertainment in between the sky

boomers, but others watched the event from the large hill at the Newtown

Country Club which overlooks the park, from the field behind Village Cemetery,

and other surrounding points.

But those days are long gone. The fireworks show, put on by the Newtown Summer

Festival, fizzled out after 1985.

The annual event, one of only a few each year that brought the entire

community together, became a thing of the past in the spring of 1986 when the

town's police commission voted unanimously not to issue a fireworks permit to

the Newtown Summer Festival, citing increased risks to spectators, difficulty

getting emergency vehicles into the park and problems with securing

skyrocketing liability insurance.

At the time, Police Chief Joseph Marchese said there were also problems with

traffic and private citizens setting off additional fireworks at the golf

course.

With the belief that the show must go on, the Newtown Summer Festival then

went to the Board of Education, seeking permission to hold the event at

Newtown High School, but was denied for similar reasons.

To go along with the evening fireworks, the Newtown Summer Festival also

organized other events at the park, including a field day, hot air balloon

rides and swimming activities. However, according to Debbie Tendler, a former

president of the festival committee, that was canceled too.

"When the fireworks were no longer, the picnic made no sense," she explained.

"It's certainly not the same any more."

Mrs Tendler also remembered the annual August Block Party that used to be held

in the Queen Street Shopping Center. Interest in that event faded around the

same time the fireworks were stopped.

Debbie Messinger of the Newtown Parks & Recreation said her office receives

about 10 calls each summer from residents asking whether Newtown was planning

a display.

"I miss them. It was wonderful. We used to ride the hay wagon up to Ridge Road

and watch them from there," she recalled.

First Selectman Bob Cascella said the liability issue has kept the fireworks

out, but acknowledged that if another group willing to fund the event were to

come forward, he'd support fireworks in Newtown.