Conshohocken Fireworks BY Jack Coll

CONSHOHOCKEN FIREWORKS

A Century in the Making

By Jack Coll

July 6, 2015

     The Conshohocken 2015 fireworks were beautiful, the bold colors that lit up the gray sky over Sutcliffe Park on July 3^rd, brought the usual oooooh’s and ah’s, from the lighter than usual crowd, the crowd was delighted with what seemed to be a mid-way fireworks finale and of course the closing finale was sensational.  The lighter than usual crowd was a result of the fireworks night being held on a Friday night, anytime the Fourth falls on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday, the masses are usually at the Jersey shore, but still a good crowd.

     2015 also celebrated fifteen years of the fireworks being shot off at Sutcliffe Park.  In the year 2000, the borough celebrated their Sesquicentennial, (150 years since incorporation) and members of that committee led by Conshohocken Mayor Robert Frost originally wanted to shoot the Sesquicentennial fireworks display off over the Schuylkill River, with a number of the lower end office parking decks filled with residents and spectators.  While Borough fire officials tried to work out the logistics county and state fire officials nixed the plan because the houses, offices, the Schuylkill Expressway and other structures would be in close proximity of the launching site.  According to officials they were willing to shut down the Matsonford Bridge, and even hold traffic on the Expressway for the duration of the shoot if necessary, but determined there was no safe shooting distance from the different structures.

     So the fireworks that had been shot off from “A” Field at Twelfth Avenue, and later the Community Field, later known as the Albert A. Garthwaite Field, (“A” Field), for more than a century, was moved to Sutcliffe Park in 2000.

     The move to Sutcliffe Park for the Sesquicentennial fireworks didn’t come without controversy.  The residents who lived around the Conshohocken “A” Field certainly weren’t pleased with the fact that they would be losing their front row Fourth of July Fireworks display seats and parties.  There was a little resistance from the neighbors on the west side concerned with the masses of people traveling to and from the park, and there was a strong resistance from a number of Conshy councilmen at the time balking about the traffic and crowds that might be drawn into the borough for the fireworks display.

     One hundred years ago borough councilmen, all fifteen of them had a different kind of problem on their hands.  In 1915, as was the tradition borough service organizations generally met and formed a Fourth of July Committee to organization a parade, public speakers, a town picnic complete with sporting events, an evening concert by the borough’s joint choirs, and a  fireworks display.  In 1915 the P. O. S. of A. (Patriotic Order Sons of America) an organization who organized and built their headquarters at 201 Fayette Street, (currently the Tony and Joe’s Pizza building) were the chief organizers for the Fourth’s celebration. Representatives from more than 40 organizations from Conshohocken and West Conshohocken met at the P. O. S. of A. headquarters to plan the events of the day.

     Each different event of the day had a committee and the fireworks committee was chaired by Henry Harrold, who was a member of the G. A. R. (Grand Army of the Republic), and committee members that included Alex Young of the Citizens Committee; Charles Moore, of the Italian Society; William Pearson Jr., Boy Scouts; and William Kane, representing the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the committee was authorized to take bids for the fireworks display for up to three hundred dollars.

     Well the fireworks committee solicited bids, willing to spend up to $300. And that’s sort of when the small fireworks problem began.  Two Italian firework firms responded with bids, each claiming that their fireworks display, meeting all the specifications, was the greater of the two.  A meeting was held with members of the Fourth of July Committee, the fireworks committee, representatives of the two firework firms and several councilmen to discuss the awarding of the fireworks contract.  So as the discussion progressed among committee members it started to look very favorably for the one bidder when the other bidder jumped up and offered objections.  As the newspaper stated, “The Italians held a wordy war which the committee could not understand and when things got to a fever heat, one of the contractors had such faith that his display would be so far superior to his competitor’s that he made the proposition that each firm give a display and the one who gives the better one is to be paid and the other gets nothing.”  The proposition was accepted and the competitors made the rules governing the contest.”

     Each competitor deposited with the committee as a guarantee of good faith, $300. In cash, (Three Hundred dollars in cash back in 1915 was nothing to sneeze at!) And it was determined that the one who gives the best display will received his deposit and $300. From the committee, the unsuccessful one will be given back his deposit and will leave town in disgust.  The residents of the borough received the benefit of a free show due to their fight.

     It was reported in the July 6, 1915 edition of the Conshohocken Recorder newspaper that thousands of residents and several hundred out of town visitors gathered at the field located at Twelfth Avenue and Fayette Street to observe the great fireworks display, $600 worth of fireworks was the largest fireworks display ever, held in the borough.  The paper reported that the fireworks display lasted for more than an hour and a half but made no mention of the more superior fireworks company.

     The borough of Conshohocken has celebrated Independence Day every year since incorporation back in 1850, but borough fireworks have been part of the celebration on and off since the early 1880’s.  In the year 1900 it was stated in the newspaper that July Fourth, was one of the hottest Fourths of July the town had ever had.  “It was hot from the weather standpoint; and it was a “Hot town” from the standpoint of the sport who wanted excitement.  There were fights, fires, and drunks, fireworks both heavenly and human.”

     A few of the segments from the Recorder read as follows:

     “Officer Heald arrested Charles McKenzie in the afternoon.  He was intoxicated and was amusing himself by beating his wife.  He was given a hearing by Magistrate Smith and held under $100 bail for court.  Samuel Dillman was arrested by Officers Stemple, Holland and Hastings, charged by Mrs. Quigley with disorderly conduct.  Dillman is a tenant of Mrs. Quigley and while drunk tried to demolish the house he is living in.  He was given a hearing by Magistrate Heywood, and was discharged on promising to remove from the house.”

     Although there was a great deal of noise throughout the day the evening brought beautiful fireworks.  The display was given by John Ellwood Lee, from his mansion located at Eighth Avenue and Fayette Street.  Thousands of residents and spectators lined all sides of his mansion surrounding his home and enjoyed the show without incident.

     Throughout the 1960’s the annual fireworks display held on the Fourth of July was sponsored by E. F. Moore, the local Conshohocken Chamber of Commerce headed by guys like Walt Schank and George Gunning, the Conshohocken American Legion, Joseph Wagner Post and the Knights of Columbus. In the late 1970’s the Mayors Special Events Committee headed by Mayor Francis Ruggerio sponsored the fireworks event on and off for a number of years and in the early 1980’s the Washington Fire Company sponsored the event for one or two years.  Sometimes the word sponsor is taken a little lightly, what that word means is that particular organization will fund the event either by raising the needed money, or just flat out pay for it, either way when someone sponsors the fireworks in Conshohocken it a lot of time and money involved.

     Finally the fireworks program stabilized with the Conshohocken Ambucs stepped forward in 1984 when the borough was in jeopardy of not having community fireworks on the Fourth.  The Conshohocken Ambucs were granted a charter in 1979 and went on to do great things in this borough with their involvement in the Conshohocken Little League, the three CYO programs, the Fellowship House, not to mention their involvement with the Easter Egg Hunt, the Christmas Tree lightning.  But Ambucs biggest contribution came in way of sponsoring the annual soap box derby and the annual fireworks.  In order to be that involved in the community, and in order to sponsor that many events, the Ambucs members raised and contributed a lot of money over the years.

     In 1984 when the Ambucs took over sponsorship of the fireworks Dennis Moore was President of the local chapter.  Moore’s leadership of the organization and his contributions to the community came as no surprise to longtime residents.  It was Moore’s father Eddie who had contributed so much to this community in a time of need.  Eddie Moore along with his brother William, who owned and operated a funeral home on Fayette Street for many years stepped up to the plate and at times it felt like they were the only two men in the town who kept things going during the hard times.

     The Ambucs of the 1980’s, 90’s and 2000’s did everything they touched with class.  Guys like Vince Flocco, Frank Monaghan, John Porrecca, Bobby Wood, Dave Bowe and other members of the Bowe family, Bill Davis and Billy DeMedio, Billy Hayes and Peter Moore, Bobby Moore, Bernie and David Murray, John Pasquarello, Joe Del Buono, Carl Santoro and Steve Gally among other early members of the Ambucs all contributed to setting the modern day standard for our fireworks display.

     In the year 2000, the Sesquicentennial Committee made a bold move when they decided to move the fireworks from the Conshohocken “A” Field where the fireworks had been displayed for nearly a century to Sutcliffe Park.  In 2001, under the guidance of the Mayor’s Special Events Committee headed by current Mayor Robert Frost, Conshohocken had its biggest fireworks ever.  In the year 2000, the mayor signed a contract with the fireworks company for a $20,000 show, in 2001, the mayor signed a contract for $20,000.01 making 2001 the biggest show, at least in monetary terms, the largest fireworks show ever displayed within the borough limits.

     Since 2003, the borough has managed to incorporate an allotment in the budget for fireworks, in recent years the borough has spent just under $10,000 a year for this event.  Conshohocken is one of the few smaller communities in the state of Pennsylvania to continue this great fireworks hometown tradition.

     This year’s fireworks display held at Sutcliffe Park, was everything a community event is supposed to be, music, children’s rides and entertainment, food, a festive atmosphere, but most importantly neighbors, families and friends coming together, enjoying each other’s company, bringing Conshohocken together, and this year I witnessed more backyard tents set up around the fireworks site for parties than ever before.  In some recent years crowds have been estimated at more than 10,000 spectators attending our fireworks, and I say our fireworks because we all paid for them, it’s a wonderful tradition to carry on.

     If I could just find a way, to bum one beer from each and every house having a fireworks party, I could get myself a pretty good holiday drunk on, but then I would never remember the event and have nothing to write about!

     See ya next year, same time, same place, same smiling faces, yea, that’s Conshohocken.