Mother Nature’s fireworks didn’t stop Seward’s fireworks July 4.
“This was once-in-a-lifetime, hopefully,” Fireworks Chairman Darrin Urwin said.
“It’s hard because you don’t know,” Clark Kolterman, Fourth of July Committee chair, said.
Jessica Kolterman, another committee member, said she started watching the forecast about a week in advance.
“A former tourist family member reached out,” she said.
He had been looking at the long-term forecast and suggested she keep an eye on it. Around July 1, she talked to Urwin and Clark Kolterman to develop a plan and a communications plan to keep the public informed in the event of show changes.
“On the Fourth, I was tracking weather apps all day,” Jessica Kolterman said.
Around noon, she checked in with Seward County Emergency Manager Gary Petersen, who had been in contact with the National Weather Service offices in Valley and Hastings.
“A lot of modeling takes place, and the models kept changing,” Jessica Kolterman said.
Urwin and his volunteer crew kept a close eye on the forecast throughout the day.
“We bought a bunch of tarps to cover everything,” he said. “We prepared as best as we could. It seemed to work out OK.”
Urwin said the crew started setting up about 7 a.m. and finished covering everything about 6:15 p.m.
“Everything was covered and wrapped,” he said. “We usually prepare for a shower, but never for a storm like that.”
He said he worked with the Fourth of July Committee, including Police Chief Brian Peters and Petersen.
“I said I wanted to go on with the show,” Urwin said. “If we had a 9:30 to 10:30 window, we could do it.”
Jessica Kolterman said the weather models showed a window the fireworks crew could take advantage of.
“It looked like it would probably clear by 9,” she said. “Then we could easily move forward.”
Announcements were made via social media and on Max Country, the radio station providing the music for the show.
“The decisions were made the best way possible with the information available,” Jessica Kolterman said.
“It’s very anticlimactic to do it on the fifth,” Clark Kolterman said. “If there was any way to have it, we have to have it. It ended up being a perfect night.”
Clark Kolterman said the committee left the decision up to the experts.
“They were confident the storm would be over by 9,” he said.
Once the fireworks are set up, it’s easier to just go ahead and shoot them, he said. Humidity is not good for the components, and the crew would have to keep an eye on everything for another day. That’s tough with all volunteers, he said.
The storm cleared out of Seward about 9:15 p.m. and the crew unwrapped the fireworks.
“Maybe it was not ideal,” Urwin said. “I was pleased with the crowd. Overall it was good.”
The fireworks show cost about $30,000 this year, Jessica Kolterman said, and would not be possible without its sponsors – Cattle Bank & Trust, Concordia University, Jones Bank of Seward and Milford, Hughes Brothers and Petsource by Scoular.
“It’s the majority of the budget for the festival,” she said.
Clark Kolterman said he could only remember the fireworks being canceled twice – both in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
The last time the fireworks were postponed came in 2010.
