Town officials on Tuesday approved a $35,000 contract with a Douglassville, Pa.-based company to put on this year’s fireworks at Waveny.
The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with the town’s longtime vendor, International Fireworks Mfg. Co., during its regular meeting.
“I think they do a fabulous show,” Tom Stadler, chair of the New Canaan Family Fourth Committee, told the selectmen during their meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
This year’s Family Fourth, the hugely popular picnic and fireworks show at Waveny, will be held on Saturday, July 1 with a rain date of July 2 (and, if necessary, a further backup of July 8), Stadler said.
Though in years past the Family Fourth has been held on July 4, the Committee decided unanimously to have it on the weekend, he said.
“I think we’re in agreement with others around the room that if you have it on a Tuesday night and you’ve got to get the kids off to camp on Wednesday morning, and I’ve got to be on a flight to Dallas on Wednesday morning, it’s just too complicated,” Stadler said. “And working with the families in town that seem to prefer a weekend, as well as working with the fireworks company and their availability, you can have it on the fourth, but then you can’t reschedule it on another weeknight.”
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the contract.
The annual event is supported by the sales of passes, whose price will stay at $35 this year, Stadler said.
The selectmen asked how much money is in the total Family Fourth fund (about $75,000 to $100,000), how much it costs overall to put on the Family Fourth each year (about $75,000 to $80,000) how many people attend (an estimated 5,000 to 7,000) and what is the runtime of the fireworks display (about 32 minutes).
“We look forward to it every year,” Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said. “We also look forward to when it’s over, too.”
The volunteer Family Fourth Committee—members include George Benington, Scott Cluett, Chris Cody, Wendy Dixon Fog, Sue Holland, Suzanne Jonker and Pat Wood, according to the town website—have already held planning meetings, Stadler said.
“This is the easy part—the bands are easy, and other things are easy, certainly port-a-potties are easy, but food trucks are difficult,” he said. “They are moving more to catering as opposed to vending. And it’s been very very difficult to line up food trucks that will commit to being there on that day. Not easy.”