Waterbury Rotary Club cancels NQID fireworks display

June 12, 2020  |  By Julia Bailey-Wells

The annual fireworks display will not go on as planned on June 27 due to ongoing public health concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic. Waterbury Rotary Club members are suggesting an alternative way to celebrate by borrowing from recent worldwide outbursts of song and music to celebrate essential workers in the global health crisis. File photo by Gordon Miller.

The COVID-19 pandemic had up-ended events for weeks and in Waterbury, the Rotary Club’s Board of Directors on Friday announced that the latest summer casualty will be the fireworks show planned for Not Quite Independence Day this year.

Scheduled for June 27, the display will be postponed to 2021, Rotary officials said in an announcement sent out by incoming club President Dan McKibben. This decision comes on the heels of efforts to scale back NQID festivities given the state’s current guidance against gatherings larger than 25 people. 

The Rotary Board announced May 13 that it would cancel the annual NQID parade and daylong festival and instead limit the celebration to a fireworks display. They suggested the parade and festival might be rescheduled to a date later in the year. They had hoped to find a way to safely hold a fireworks display as planned. 

The town usually holds the fireworks display behind the state office complex along the Winooski River, which decision-makers quickly ruled out for this year’s event after determining that the site had inadequate space for proper social distancing. Members of the Rotary Board and representatives from the town and the Waterbury Fire Department began discussing locations for the event that could accommodate social distancing protocols three weeks ago, according to Waterbury Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk. 

“There was discussion whether we could find a central location where the fireworks could be launched and they could be seen from lots of places in Waterbury,” Shepeluk said. 

The group considered Country Club of Vermont, Blush Hill Country Club, and the hill behind Thatcher Brook Elementary School where the Rotary Club raises its Christmas tree each winter as alternative fireworks launch sites. But they ultimately decided that holding the event anywhere would be unsafe. 

“There is no way to enforce the guidelines for social distancing, and I think the group did not want to be responsible for inadvertently encouraging people to gather,” said Waterbury Fire Chief Gary Dillon in an email to Waterbury Roundabout on Friday. 

“None of those in attendance were pleased with this outcome; however, we felt this decision was necessary,” the Rotary statement said.

All money already put towards this year’s canceled fireworks display will go towards next year’s NQID fireworks, Rotary officials said.

Dillon said individuals setting off their own fireworks are a concern, but that worry does not hinge on the absence of an official display during this year’s NQID. “Individuals are always setting off fireworks throughout summer,” Dillon said.

All individual fireworks purchases and displays require a signed permit. As fire chief, Dillon is responsible for issuing fireworks permits for Waterbury, as well as the towns of Duxbury and Moretown. “Individuals that set off fireworks, and cause a fire, can be held criminally and civilly responsible for any damage or costs associated with setting them off,” Dillon said.

A less-flashy but noisy alternative

Not to entirely forsake an Independence Day celebration, the Rotary Club is suggesting an alternative to the  usual NQID festivities. In their announcement, they said the Rotary Club will spearhead “Sing and Shout for Vermont” inspired by efforts in cities from New York to Buenos Aires to Istanbul to honor essential workers and bring joy during the pandemic. 

Still planned for June 27, the event will involve a broadcast of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 9 p.m. “We welcome everyone around the region to sing along LOUDLY outside their homes,” wrote McKibben. The organizers encourage joyful noise-making after the anthem using “musical instruments, drums, car horns, yodeling, or other means.”  

McKibben acknowledged that the alternative may not be as spectacular as a fireworks show but he called the effort “a great way for Vermonters to creatively show our community spirit and appreciation for what everyone is doing to help make the best of our current situation.” 

He promised more details on the event soon. 

The announcement did not mention the status of plans the Rotary Club was making with Spruce Peak Performing Arts to add a mobile concert to the fireworks show on June 27. The Stowe venue is aiming to provide neighboring communities this summer with live music using a donated flatbed truck and generator. There were discussions of a band performing ahead of the fireworks in Waterbury.

Rotary officials did not say whether they are considering scheduling such an event another time. 

Julia Bailey-Wells is with Community News Service, a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.