Independence Day fireworks show planned

What does a $50,000 fireworks display look like?
Look at the sky above the Eunice Recreation Complex at 9 p.m. Saturday to find out.
“I’ve made many friends in the fireworks business over the years, so my friends help the city out on the cost,” said Kenneth Peart, organizer of Eunice’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show. “A display like this at full price would cost $40,000 to $50,000. The city gets it for about a third of that.”
Peart, owner of Peart Enterprises and a former Eunice mayor, has planned the Eunice Fourth of July firework display since the Eunice Chamber of Commerce stopped holding it in 1981.
“Back then, the city had talked about doing away with fireworks on the Fourth of July,” Peart said. “It was really dry one year, and people using penny rockets were keeping the firemen busy. There were too many fires.”
“The city wanted to outlaw fireworks in the city limits, and I went to a city council meeting and read a letter from a young girl who didn’t want the whole town to suffer for a few people who were being irresponsible with fireworks.”
Peart told city officials he would take over the show, and he began soliciting donations in the area to fund the display.
“I’ve been getting ready since last week,” Peart said. “Each year it gets bigger and bigger.”
This year’s display is made up of 3,000 shots of five different sizes, ranging from baseball to cantaloupe in size. The shots are dropped into cardboard tubes – donated by The Eunice News and The Advertiser in Lafayette – and the tubes are placed on several flatbed trailers. On the Fourth of July, the shots are lit with road flares secured to tomato stakes.
“We’ve always had the show each year since I took over, except one when it rained,” Peart said. “The cardboard tubes got wet, and that’s not safe because the fireworks can explode in the tube.”
There is a 30 percent chance of rain for Saturday, and showers are expected from the mid-afternoon into the early evening. The fireworks will be popped at the Eunice Recreation Complex, and the public may park at the facility to view the show. Peart said the parking lot at St. Thomas More Church and by the Eunice Airport are also popular spots to watch the display, which usually lasts from 20 to 30 minutes.
“Traffic can get hectic, but the park (recreation complex) is the best place to watch,” he said.
According to Peart, guests from Lafayette, Baton Rouge and even Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi come to see Eunice’s fireworks display.
“It’s a very reputable show,” he said. “I think we have one of the finest small town Fourth of July fireworks shows in the state.”