Pandemic continues to impact county fireworks

Independence Day is just a few days away, a time often spent climbing to the top of a hill to watch the local fireworks show. The pandemic upended many planned fireworks shows last year, leading to most of the annual events being canceled altogether. The few remaining shows had to be severely restricted to protect viewers’ health. Despite lifting regulations, this year has seen similar challenges.

Tompkins Weekly spoke with the organizers behind four annual fireworks shows, two of which have been canceled this year during the pandemic. The two shows still planned are hosted by the Groton Fire Department and RaNic, formerly the Country Club of Ithaca.

Groton’s show is scheduled for July 2, with fireworks being set off from a field on the east side of Groton so folks around the town can watch, though no attendance is allowed at the launch location.

RaNic’s show is scheduled for July 3, with fireworks being launched off-site, on Cayuga Lake south of Myers Park in Lansing. RaNic’s fireworks will be visible from areas surrounding Cayuga Lake throughout Ithaca and parts of Trumansburg. Both shows start just after sunset, around 9:30 to 10 p.m.

Ben Nelson, chief of the Groton Fire Department, explained that his department hosted a fireworks show last year, switching the location from the usual Groton Elementary School to a field to allow for some sense of normalcy while keeping in line with health regulations.

“Last year, you couldn’t have people gathering in any formation, really,” he said. “When the summer hit, they started opening up restrictions a little bit, but it still wasn’t enough to allow a big gathering. Typically, we see 300 to 400 people at the elementary school. So, as everyone’s well aware of, that was a big no-no last year.”

Nelson said that while he and others would’ve preferred to return to the elementary school this year, the pandemic, ultimately, stood in the way once again.

“With the lifting of the restrictions, could we have gone back to the way we normally do things? Yeah, probably,” he said. “But I don’t think there was enough time, especially since we contract to have the fireworks come in — we’re not setting them off ourselves in the middle of the field [because] it’s a little bit risky — it was just a little too short notice to change everything up.”

It’s a similar story for RaNic. As co-owner Jennifer Whittaker explained, she and several other families have taken turns hosting the fireworks show over the past several years. While the pandemic meant that at last year’s show, mass gathering had to be reduced, she and others still wanted to hold the event as a way to bring the community together.

“People really needed to have something to look forward to last year,” she said. “I think the mood and the ambiance with everybody, it was great that we could actually get outside, enjoy the outdoors during the pandemic.”

Last year’s event was a bit somber due to the death of two of the Whittakers’ friends around that same time, but Whittaker decided to dedicate the show to her friends and simultaneously raise money for the Cayuga Medical Center Foundation in their honor.

This year’s show is also a fundraiser for the Foundation, as well as for the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County. Donate to the Foundation at cayugamed.org/about-us/cayuga-medical-center-foundation/on-line-donation and to the YMCA at ithacaymca.com/donate.

Whittaker said that the loosened restrictions make this year’s event more optimistic in tone.

“We’re sad that the community are not able to do their own shows and to get the people gathered together, so we’re embracing the fact that we can have a lot more family and friends, and we’re focused on some of the positive things going forward,” she said. “This is more of an uplifting release of the pandemic, more of a celebration about America. And hopefully, this creates some positivity going forward as we still deal with some of those little issues with the pandemic.”

While the Groton Fire Department and RaNic will still be able to host events this year, organizers like the Ithaca Rotary Club and the Lansing Community Council had to cancel fireworks two years in a row.

Dale Johnson, Ithaca Rotary member and fireworks organizer, said much of the reason that the Rotary couldn’t host fireworks this year is due to timing and fundraising. The event routinely costs around $35,000 overall, Johnson said, and raising that much money requires six months of coordination.

On top of that, TCAT usually helps transport attendees for the show as the usual site, Cass Park in Ithaca, doesn’t have nearly enough parking on site to accommodate the typical audience of over 1,000 people. And “even though their restrictions have been relaxed somewhat, their capacity now on buses is the seating capacity only, no standing passengers,” Johnson said, which still wouldn’t be enough room.

And adding to both those factors are the remaining restrictions for a gathering of that size. A 500-person-or-more gathering would require organizers to check for proof of vaccination for every attendee, something that simply isn’t feasible with this year’s resources.

“So, between the mass transit side of it and the mass gathering side of it, this year was really complicated,” Johnson said. “And I think it’s fair to say that, even as of this minute, we would not be able to, in any practical sense, put on an event that complied with all the relevant standards that govern that, as much as it pains us. It is a great event. It’s really a summer classic. And we’ve enjoyed it. And I think people have enjoyed the evening, but this year is just really complicated.”

Ed Lavigne, town supervisor for Lansing and member of the Lansing Community Council, reported similar reasoning behind Lansing’s canceled show.

The Lansing Community Council typically sets off fireworks at Myers Park, which, like Cass Park, has limited parking. So, just like the Ithaca Rotary, Lansing’s show bussed in many of its attendees. Buses would normally enter and leave the park toward Lansing High School via the Ludlowville Bridge, but that bridge is out this year, which could lead to significant traffic.

“Normally, on a good day, since it’s packed, you can empty that park in probably 45 minutes,” Lavigne said. “Having to go around, that would probably increase the amount of travel time by two times, … which means that you’d empty in an hour and a half. And that’s is way too much time.”

Another factor was that the Sheriff’s Department, which usually handles traffic control, didn’t have the bandwidth to cover the show this year. And lastly, it was difficult to know what July would look like back in February and March, when plans had to start if there was going to be a show at all.

“We didn’t know if there’s going to be another spike,” Lavigne said. “And at that time, we were only allowed 500 people into the park. That’s what the protocol was. And that could have changed or not. So, all these things are time-sensitive, and it takes three to four months to actually put these things in place. And all it takes is for one of those different dynamics to actually fall short, and you really have a mess on your hands.”

Sources said that regardless of their plans for fireworks, the community’s response has been generally understanding and positive. All sources hope to host shows next year, though the format and whether that will even be possible are still up in the air.

“We really enjoy having that kind of open community event where everybody who wants to be there can be there, [and] there’s no charge,” Johnson said. “It’s really a celebration of not only the traditional July 4 things, but just the celebration of our own community here, and the vibe of the event is something that I think is really valuable from a community-capital point of view. And so, we really want to get back to that again, consistent with public health.”