Stockton fireworks show saved
Man offers his land as launching pad for Fourth of July fun
By David Siders
Record Staff Writer
April 07, 2007 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - Stockton will launch fireworks on the Fourth of July after all, officials said Friday, two months after announcing the cancellation of the Weber Point show.
Ryan Voorhees of Galt, who Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hafey called the "savior of the downtown fireworks," invited the city to launch fireworks from land he owns west of Weber Point. The point becomes so crowded on the Fourth of July officials said it's unsafe to launch fireworks there.
Voorhees said he wants no money for letting the city launch fireworks from his land, which is on the south bank of Stockton Deep Water Channel a mile west of Weber Point and just west of Interstate 5. Voorhees said he "just wanted to see fireworks downtown" and "to help the city out."
The fireworks on his property will be launched 800 to 1,000 feet, which in some cases is more than three times as high as they were launched last year, Hafey said. The view from the point will be superb, he and other officials said.
Vice Mayor Leslie Baranco Martin, who previously worried the city was "killing the spirit of Fourth of July," said Friday that the show would be "bigger and better" than before. And City Councilman Clem Lee said, "Shoot 'em halfway to the moon and nobody gets hurt ... That's great."
Fire officials said in February that development near Weber Point had so constricted the area that crowds came too close to the fireworks. Tight space also prevented the fireworks from being launched as high as they had been in previous years, and some people said they could not see them.
The decision to cancel the show was unpopular - Fourth of July's Stockton Waterfest, which started in 2000, has drawn crowds of 80,000 downtown - and fire officials scoured the area for an alternative site.
The new site is a fine example of a public-private collaboration, Mayor Ed Chavez said. City Manager Gordon Palmer said, "We're going to be able to have a bigger show than we've been having. ... This all works out pretty well."
Man offers his land as launching pad for Fourth of July fun
By David Siders
Record Staff Writer
April 07, 2007 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - Stockton will launch fireworks on the Fourth of July after all, officials said Friday, two months after announcing the cancellation of the Weber Point show.
Ryan Voorhees of Galt, who Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hafey called the "savior of the downtown fireworks," invited the city to launch fireworks from land he owns west of Weber Point. The point becomes so crowded on the Fourth of July officials said it's unsafe to launch fireworks there.
Voorhees said he wants no money for letting the city launch fireworks from his land, which is on the south bank of Stockton Deep Water Channel a mile west of Weber Point and just west of Interstate 5. Voorhees said he "just wanted to see fireworks downtown" and "to help the city out."
The fireworks on his property will be launched 800 to 1,000 feet, which in some cases is more than three times as high as they were launched last year, Hafey said. The view from the point will be superb, he and other officials said.
Vice Mayor Leslie Baranco Martin, who previously worried the city was "killing the spirit of Fourth of July," said Friday that the show would be "bigger and better" than before. And City Councilman Clem Lee said, "Shoot 'em halfway to the moon and nobody gets hurt ... That's great."
Fire officials said in February that development near Weber Point had so constricted the area that crowds came too close to the fireworks. Tight space also prevented the fireworks from being launched as high as they had been in previous years, and some people said they could not see them.
The decision to cancel the show was unpopular - Fourth of July's Stockton Waterfest, which started in 2000, has drawn crowds of 80,000 downtown - and fire officials scoured the area for an alternative site.
The new site is a fine example of a public-private collaboration, Mayor Ed Chavez said. City Manager Gordon Palmer said, "We're going to be able to have a bigger show than we've been having. ... This all works out pretty well."
