Firecracker Alley - July 3rd
On the way home from setting up the Henderson Bay show for the 4th, I saw signs for "Firecracker Alley," a group of stands operated by the Puyallup Tribe. As I wasn't in a big rush and can't pass up checking out the fireworks anyway, I stopped in to look around.
There were two or three "streets" of stands, with maybe 50 stands total. For 4:30pm on July 3rd, it wasn't that busy, which was kind of depressing. Economy, recession, gas prices, etc etc... There were still a fair number of people walking around and buying things, but it wasn't the crazy mob it should have been the day before the 4th.
One thing that I certainly didn't approve of was that there were kids walking around throwing Black Eyed Peas (basically large pop-its) in the rows. These are the same fireworks that set a stand on fire in Boom City last year, so that made me a little nervous. I thought those were recalled, and they certainly should be.
Inside a typical stand. Most were pretty heavy on 500g cakes, but between the different stands you could find all types of fireworks. There didn't seem to be any brand that dominated, I saw Brothers, World Class, Great Grizzly, Black Cat, Phantom, Pyro King, TNT, Canon, Megabanger and others. Prices were pretty standard for WA retail, with 200g cakes going for $10-25 and 500g $60+.
I certainly wasn't there to spend a bunch of money on retail and I'm currently pretty poor anyway, so I figured I'd buy one or two items just for fun and to test out my new camera. I saw a stand with a decent selection of 200g and ended up getting PYK Done Deal for all the cash in my wallet, $7 (posted price was $15). I mentioned that I knew the effects on most of the cakes and somebody next to me asked if I was on any of the fireworks sites online. It turned out to be a PyroU member crazypyro, who I had never met before, but was friends with the person running the stand (that probably helped get me a discount). Small world! He told me his friend was mad that he knew the wholesale costs of the stuff and so he didn't buy from her stand...
One thing that I certainly didn't approve of was that there were kids walking around throwing Black Eyed Peas (basically large pop-its) in the rows. These are the same fireworks that set a stand on fire in Boom City last year, so that made me a little nervous. I thought those were recalled, and they certainly should be.
Inside a typical stand. Most were pretty heavy on 500g cakes, but between the different stands you could find all types of fireworks. There didn't seem to be any brand that dominated, I saw Brothers, World Class, Great Grizzly, Black Cat, Phantom, Pyro King, TNT, Canon, Megabanger and others. Prices were pretty standard for WA retail, with 200g cakes going for $10-25 and 500g $60+.
I certainly wasn't there to spend a bunch of money on retail and I'm currently pretty poor anyway, so I figured I'd buy one or two items just for fun and to test out my new camera. I saw a stand with a decent selection of 200g and ended up getting PYK Done Deal for all the cash in my wallet, $7 (posted price was $15). I mentioned that I knew the effects on most of the cakes and somebody next to me asked if I was on any of the fireworks sites online. It turned out to be a PyroU member crazypyro, who I had never met before, but was friends with the person running the stand (that probably helped get me a discount). Small world! He told me his friend was mad that he knew the wholesale costs of the stuff and so he didn't buy from her stand...
A funny sign...
The wholesale area where stands buy their stuff.
The large open area for shooting (video below). There wasn't much going on at this time of day, though I heard a few salutes while walking around the stands. I wanted to get video of something without waiting around too long, so this guy shooting candles was the only thing I got. He looked a little lonely...
