Oak Bluffs Fireworks Show Dazzles as Community Rallies Around Beloved Event
Ocean Park aglow with light from phones, glow sticks, and the bandstand before show begins.
Ocean Park aglow with light from phones, glow sticks, and the bandstand before show begins.
Oak Bluffs Firemen's Civic Association, which organizes the show, sells gear and takes donations.
Oak Bluffs Firemen's Civic Association, which organizes the show, sells gear and takes donations.
With the President watching fireworks at Valerie Jarrett's home, Secret Service and police tape blocked off part of North Bluff.
With the President watching fireworks at Valerie Jarrett's home, Secret Service and police tape blocked off part of North Bluff.
Light and smoke above the Steamship Authority terminal.
Light and smoke above the Steamship Authority terminal.
By the time fireworks started, local businesses had pledged $11,000 toward show's future.
By the time fireworks started, local businesses had pledged $11,000 toward show's future.
Fireworks went on for more than 30 minutes.
Fireworks went on for more than 30 minutes.
The 40th annual Oak Bluffs fireworks display had all the usual components. There were crowds filling Ocean Park and lining the sea wall, eating ice cream and carrying glow sticks. Local police and firefighters were out in force, some on duty and others selling T-shirts and gear to support the department and the fireworks show. And of course there were fireworks of every color and style over Nantucket Sound, delighting the crowd yet again.
This show even had a Presidential audience: President Obama and the first family watched the show from Valerie Jarrett's vacation home on the North Bluff. As crowds filled the nearby Lookout Tavern, police blocked off Seaview avenue extension with police tape and Secret Service officers stood guard.
This year's show had an added spark: an outpouring of donations and support from Island businesses to keep the fireworks going in future years. In June, chief event sponsor Black Entertainment Television confirmed that this would be the last year they would help fund the show, which costs $40,000 to $50,000 a year. The Oak Bluffs Firemen's Association, which organizes the event, said it would be a struggle to raise all the necessary funds.
But this week, local businesses and residents rallied around the cause on Facebook. On Thursday, Island businessman JB Blau, who owns several Island restaurants, took to the Facebook group Islanders Talk to call on local businesses to donate to keepthe fireworks going, starting with $200 from his businesses. Over the next two days donations poured in from local businesses who responded to the Facebook thread, most pledging about $100. By the time the fireworks show started Friday, $11,000 had been raised.
And so the fireworks tradition continued Friday with a brighter future. After a musical opener by the Vineyard Haven Band, all eyes were on the skies Friday. The show stretched to more that 30 minutes, and each grand blast of fireworks that seemed to herald the end of the show was followed by still more pyrotehnics. Then came the real finale, filling the sky with color, smoke, and sound.