Another Celebration in the Books

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — Another Fourth of July celebration is in the books for the city of Clarmeont.

The annual firework display began at 6 PM at Monadnock Park on Monday night. A rough estimate made by the Claremont Parks and Recreation Department suggests that roughly 2,500 people were in attendance for the event, which also featured live music from Grantham based cover band Jester Jigs and several local food vendors.

“It was a huge success. We had a huge turnout and it was an incredible show. I’ve been with the Department for 10 years and every year that we’ve done this it’s always been such a great celebration,” said Justin Martin, Superintendent of Recreation Programs for the Parks and Recreation Department.

The event, one of the largest annual events in Claremont, takes a significant amount of foresight and planning. The Claremont Parks and Recreation Department must go through a series of permitting processes for vendors as well as obtaining insurance. They also work in tandem with North Star Fireworks, the State Fire Marshal’s office, Police, Fire and EMS.

Vendors pay a fee to provide their services, and are usually contacted by Parks and Rec to attend the event based on their involvement in previous years. Lucas Anderson, a Claremont resident and pyrotechnician with North Star Fireworks, choreographed the firework display.

“…I hope you all enjoyed the show we put on for you tonight. The roar of your cheer was tremendous…,” Anderson wrote in a Facebook post regarding the event.

According to Superintendent Martin, the Director position for the Parks and Recreation Department has been vacant for around a month and a half. Traditionally, much of the work that goes into putting on the Claremont Fourth of July Celebration is placed on the Director, but as the position is unfilled, Martin took up the mantle. As of publication, the City of Claremont’s website has Mark Brislin listed as the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

“It takes a lot to put all of this together. There were about four months of preparation. Justin really took it all on this year. There were of course some other people helping but he really put his all into it and deserves a ton of credit,” said Parks and Recreation Program Leader Diane Harlow.

It was also a successful evening for the vendors as well. Local restaurants like Sunshine Cookshop and Rocky’s Tacqueria were in attendance and completely sold out before the event had come to a close. According to Superintendent Martin, there were enough interested vendors that the park nearly reached capacity, but the city hopes to see a few more for next year.

“It was good. We definitely plan on going back next year. We completely sold out, it was a really good crowd,” said Sunshine Cookshop owner Errol Letman.

“I think it went very well. I want to shout out a thank you to Justin Martin and his team, as a city councilor and a vendor, they made it run nice and smooth,” said Rocky Beliveau, City Councilor and owner of Rocky’s Taqueria.

Beliveau also acknowledged a toilet paper shortage at the event saying, “I’ll be donating toilet paper to make sure everyone has it. I’d also love to see some bathroom volunteers helping out. Overall though, it was a great night.”

The city of Claremont asks that people attending the event give donations at the entrances to the park. Part of the donations go toward a 50/50 raffle for attendees, this year a prize of $388 was given to the winner. The money also goes toward the following years’ showing. This year the town received $1,500. The celebration could not be held without generous donations from nearby businesses. Superintendent Martin wanted to especially thank McGee Toyota, who gave $8,000 toward the event and sponsored the firework portion, as well as Walmart of Claremont, who gave a $2,000 grant.

Like nearly everything else in the current economic climate, costs are rising including fireworks shows. Recently, the exact same show in Claremont cost the city $10,000 whereas this year the total came to $12,000.