| Author | Message | ||
     callista Citizen Username: Callista Post Number: 10 Registered: 7-2001 |
This is the last time I'm watching the fireworks in Maplewood on the 4th. We didn't even have time to sit down before they were over! They seemed like they had enough to let off if they hadn't let them off all at once for the whopping five minutes they were happening. I had heard that the company promised extra this year. | ||
| Dr. Strangelove Citizen Username: Dr_strangelove Post Number: 13 Registered: 3-2003  |
agreed, tres lame | ||
| jamie Moderator Username: Jamie Post Number: 314 Registered: 6-2001  |
I wonder if the contract from the fireworks company specifies the length of the show - seems like it should. That was ridiculous, though they were exciting for that brief period. I started to think these were the best fireworks ever - then it ended. | ||
| Southorangemom Citizen Username: Southorangemom Post Number: 19 Registered: 6-2003 |
I stopped going to fireworks in Maplewood years ago when they blew up on the ground and we feared for our safety. Also, I am deeply offended by having to pay to watch them in Maplewood when they are free everywhere else. Yes, I know all about the day-long activities, but still... | ||
| bolded Citizen Username: Bolded Post Number: 1 Registered: 6-2002 |
The July 4th fireworks was very disappointing. The display was published to end at 9:30 PM but ended at 9:20 PM. This does not make any sense to me at all especially since we could hear adjacent displays from neighboring towns continuing as people were leaving the Maplewood display. If this is indicative of the incoming township administration, then Maplewood Township is in for some rough times. Mind you it is not about the money that was spent for the adminision tickets, it is about following through with what is the published schedule. Why on earth would an event be scheduled to start at 9:30 PM and end before the published start time!?!?! | ||
| pottymouth Citizen Username: Pottymouth Post Number: 37 Registered: 3-2002 |
Yeah! *&$&^*)*&^^$%&*@^%&%_)(_)%^*%%$%^&**(&^*#%@#!!! | ||
| us2innj Citizen Username: Us2innj Post Number: 765 Registered: 5-2001 |
yep, they were a real bomb. Seven minutes, you've got to be kidding me. | ||
| ajc Citizen Username: Ajc Post Number: 1576 Registered: 9-2001 |
Seven minutes of fireworks ain't bad, it really depends on who you're with! Yesterday was really a beautiful day, and last night was the most romantic moon lit evening so far all summer… There you are… finally lying down on a blanket with your main squeeze. You’re both really hot. You’ve been thinking about coming together, for this moment, all day! It’s getting darker, your anticipation is building, I mean it’s like you can't wait another minute. Suddenly all the foreplay is finally over; then slam, slam, slam, two or three minutes go bye, and bam, bam, bam, a few more minutes go bye, then bang, bang, bang, you’re heart is pounding, you’re seeing fire works all around you; Oh thank you, thank you sweetheart. We really needed that. That was so, so beautiful! I don't understand what's the matter with you people that need all that banging to go on, and on, and on? I mean, what’s so wrong with a little pre-mature ejaculation once in awhile? Hey, you know what they say about too much of a good thing, and what do you expect; its been a year since we’ve last been together like this anyway...  | ||
| FOUR STAR STRAW Citizen Username: Strawberry Post Number: 886 Registered: 10-2001 |
Seven minutes was too long for those who went to the fireworks with Art.  "We have the money, we have the power, we have the population, and most importantly if we want, we can take you down as well." -Strawberry/ Star Ledger, Sunday June 22, 2003 | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 656 Registered: 6-2001 |
Seven minutes of fireworks - $7,000. Not only the cost, but the rules and regs surrounding the fireworks display are becoming prohibitive - I heard it suggested yesterday that we combine our fireworks display with SO - they have the open area ( Flood Hill ) that is required for a larger display. | ||
| nan Citizen Username: Nan Post Number: 873 Registered: 2-2001 |
I loved the Maplewood fireworks!!!! Seven minutes was plenty--a few more of those explosions and I would have been deaf. Much better than all the times I dangled from elevated subway stations and peered over rooftops and jammed into drunken crowds. What's not to like--I walk down the street from my house, then plop down on a blanket, then talk to a few neighbors and friends, then listen to some music, then the kids run around, then we all settle down and watch some fireworks and then get up and walk quickly home to see what kind of mess the noise-rattled dog made down in the basement. A good time was had by all (except the dog). | ||
| sac Citizen Username: Sac Post Number: 17 Registered: 5-2001 |
I like the idea of a combined display and SO probably does have the better venue, but I sure do like being able to walk home afterwards without having to fight traffic so I'm torn about that proposal. So what were the reviews from last night's SO fireworks? | ||
| ml1 Citizen Username: Ml1 Post Number: 1071 Registered: 5-2002  |
right on Nan, just goes to show you can't please everyone... We had a great night! My family came out of the circus at 7:30 and went directly to the concert in the park (the adults listened to the music, the kids played tag for an hour and a half). The Jazz-Funk Experience (I think I'm remembering the name correctly) were amazing -- a quartet of very talented CHS students who played old-school funk and jazz. Rachel Ann and the Master Plan played an energetic set for another 45 min, and then the fireworks started. So if the fireworks were only 7 min, the entire celebration was 97 minutes. It was a wonderful evening in the park capped off by a short (but IMHO) spectacular display of pyrotechnics. I really hope the 4th of July committee doesn't consider the above suggestions for merging the celebration with SO. Who wants to deal with driving and parking and beating the traffic home -- for another 5 minutes of explosions? Having a celebration like this in Memorial Park, which thousands of people can walk to, is a tradition we should preserve. | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 4807 Registered: 5-2001  |
I wonder if SO would have the capacity. It's already pretty packed. And a review: a long show closing with a nice two part finale. However, many of the embers didn't burn out before hitting the ground. I saw some land on a group of people and it didn't look fun. | ||
| ml1 Citizen Username: Ml1 Post Number: 1072 Registered: 5-2002 |
and one more thing -- someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the fireworks did NOT start early. they were scheduled for 9 PM, and started at about 9:10. | ||
| NCJanow Citizen Username: Librarylady Post Number: 871 Registered: 5-2001 |
The South Orange fireworks were too long and boring. A shorter, more intense display would have been better. And what was with all those announcements during the fireworks, That really ruined the atmosphere. I can see announcing really lost little kids, but somebody's girlfiend? Come on, that could have waited. All being done and said, it was fun on the hill and relatively safe. I understand Livingston had some injuries with falling embers. The winds must have been acting up last night. NCJ aka LL- Any and all posts are my personal opinions, not as an employee of the South Orange Public Library. | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 661 Registered: 6-2001 |
I thought the display was one of the better in recent history. I would like to see a longer fireworks display, I'm just not sure it's a reality for our budget and venue. Hey, if you'd like to see it change one way or another, think about joning the Fourth of July committee - I understand they are always looking for new ideas and help. | ||
| Soda Citizen Username: Soda Post Number: 1031 Registered: 5-2001  |
What Maplewoodians give up in the duration of their pyrotechnical display may be offset by the cozy, "townies-only" quality of the event. Next door, where no admission of any type is charged for the day's celebration, Flood's Hill is annually and densely carpeted by not only S.O. Villagers, but also by outnumbering hordes of freeloading denizens of other localities such as Newark, Irvington, West Orange, Elizabeth, and Union. All streets adjacent to the hill are clogged yearly with the intruders' autos, and the sardine-like conditions on the hill intensify with each passing 4th. What used to be just a neighborly little local fireworks display to cap off the 4th of July festivities in Meadowlands Park has become the main event of the day, and it's too bad. Many South Orange residents have finally decided to pass on the evening's gala altogether, to avoid being jostled and regailed with rude behaviour and language from hooligans of unknown geographic origin. The concept of merging the South Orange and Maplewood July 4th fireworks, as though it were First Night, is ludicrous on its face. Crowded conditions would then assume such grotesquely horrid proportions as to render any relaxed enjoyment impossible. South Orange has long attempted to keep Flood's Hill a private "locals-only" sledding reserve during the winter, with noteable lack of success. The free Flood's Hill fireworks display each July 4th simply invites the same scurvy element to descend (with blankets, coolers, and beach chairs instead of toboggans and tire tubes) on little Meadowlands Park annually. Maplewoodians don't know when they've got it good. --The Oracle of MOL BTW: The Macy's fireworks display on the East River was pretty nice this year; I watched it from atop the Brooklyn Bridge with some of my buds. It reminded me of the Fort McHenry bombardment awhile back. Now THAT was a long show... | ||
| newjerz Citizen Username: Newjerz Post Number: 5 Registered: 5-2003 |
I think there was some sort of accident that set off all the fireworks at one time. This has happened before. There is no way that they could have intended for the fireworks to have gone off without a break for 5 minutes. Rather than rushing back here to criticize the fireworks, you should have been saying a prayer that none of the workers got hurt. | ||
| rckymtn Citizen Username: Rckymtn Post Number: 168 Registered: 5-2001 |
Fireworks were fine. The circus stunk to high heaven. Nobody near me thought the fireworks were too short at all. |
