Flint Fireworks Cancellation Reportedly Boosted Bay City Event to Record

Number of Visitors Drawn by Fabulous Show, Nice Weather, Defies Estimates

July 8, 2009
By: Dave Rogers

When the City of Flint cancelled its fireworks show on the Fourth of July, some downstate folks traveled to Bay City to view of the Midwest's largest pyrotechnics productions.

"We talked to several people who came up from Flint because their fireworks was shut down at the last minute," said one Bay City reveler on Center Avenue Saturday night.

People viewed the big Bay City Fireworks Festival show from bridge approaches, downtown corners, parking lots and other places -- not all viewers were lucky or tenacious enough to get into Veterans Park.

Reports were the Skerbeck Carnival Midway in the park set a record on the Fourth of July, with more than $93,000 in sales for Saturday, leading up to the spectacular finale that night.

Fireworks officials has reported in advance that the 45-minute finale would cost around $40,000.

The Bay City Fireworks Festival will receive 30 percent of the total sales from the carnival, said Doug Clark, president of the festival committee. If so, the proceeds would make a big dent in the total cost of the fireworks show, observers said.

"It was the best fireworks festival ever,"exclaimed Clark.

Crowd estimates varied from 10,000 to 30,000, according to the source making the estimate, but most observers said the throngs in Veterans Memorial Park appeared to be larger than ever before. Was it a record crowd? Even Mr. Clark declined to put a number on it.