On July 4, 1777, Americans celebrated the first anniversary of their nation’s independence by filling the streets with food and music and launching fiery sparks into the night sky.
For more than 200 years, Americans have been awed by the annual light show that has become tradition for this patriotic holiday. The preeminent Fourth of July celebration for Southeast Ohioans is tucked in the Appalachian Hills of Nelsonville, just 10 miles from Athens.
Thunder in the Valley has been a regional summer highlight for 16 years now. Funded entirely by the community, the celebration has grown from a $3,000 neighborhood fireworks display to a $12,000 holiday affair.
“We are very proud of our community members,” said Joseph Scherer, Nelsonville city manager, “and I think the fireworks display is a reflection of their support.”
Every year, families claim their seats on the lawn of Hocking College with fold-out chairs and blankets, lighting sparklers to entertain their children before the show begins. All the while, John Cheeseman, lead pyrotechnician for the Nelsonville Division of Fire, and his crew spend their holiday mapping out the masterpiece.
Since its first year, Cheeseman and Dan Pfeiffer, assistant pyrotechnician and event coordinator, have been a two-man team in the annual production, leading the largest fireworks crews in the state.
“There’s a whole bunch of work that goes into shooting off these fireworks for 20 minutes,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s just not as simple as people may think.”
The less-than-half-hour show requires more than 12 hours of preparation from the 18-person crew. By noon, folks from the Nelsonville Division of Fire are already separating the Brocades from the Beehives and plotting color combinations to wow spectators during those few minutes.
“Those few seconds of quiet after the finale, when you can hear people honking their horns and yelling because their amazed, makes it worth the effort,” Pfeiffer said.
After the show, the crew stays until about 3 a.m. picking up visitors’ left-behinds and leaving not one bit for Hocking College to be responsible. In the past, Cheeseman said the devoted crewmembers have donated their earnings to better the display.
“The applause at the end lets us know that people liked it and makes it all worthwhile,” Cheeseman said.
While colorful bursts illuminate the sky and capture the attention of all for nearly 25 minutes, the year’s worth of work behind the display is not something viewers often think of. Even after 12 hours of preparation and almost five hours of clean-up, the crew heads back to the office to plan the following year the next day.
They continue the cycle of planning, purchasing fireworks and recertification – which is required yearly – in order to provide southeast Ohio with the greatest Fourth of July celebration possible.
“It’s different from watching fireworks from the city,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s special because when the shells go off, they echo off the hills and you can see trees in the background.”
Even those who have attended Columbus’s annual Red, White and Boom revisit Thunder in the Valley for its lively atmosphere and hometown appeal. This year, many will trade their lawn chairs for a seat on an old-fashioned locomotive as rides on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway will be given throughout the day.
oy311909@ohio.edu
@ThePostCulture
