LOST BRIDGE -- The sky is set to light up over Lost Bridge Village tonight, but this year's fireworks show may be the last if homeowners don't approve new fees later this summer.
The show will be a good one, said Tonya Martin, co-owner of Hog Wild Pyrotechnics. Beaver Lake reflects the aerial display, making it special, she said.
See the show
The Lost Bridge Village Community Association fireworks show is planned for about 9 p.m. tonight. A rain date is set for Saturday.
The show can be seen on the water near the Lost Bridge and Starkey marinas or from the Lost Bridge Village Recreation Center, 11636 Dogwood Drive in Garfield.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream and cupcakes will be sold at the center from 6 to 8 p.m. A cakewalk is planned. There will be live music from Ted Tidwell and the Second Wind Band before to the show. The association recommends attendees bring lawn chairs or blankets. This year’s fireworks show will include patriotic music.
Source: Staff Report
"You kind of get a double show, if you will," Martin said.
Martin has spent this week watching the weather. If there's rain tonight the show will move to Saturday, but Martin is hoping for a 30-minute window in the weather to send up the fireworks.
High water on the lake left a smaller area to set up, so the fireworks will be a little closer to the ground than planned. Martin had to substitute 5-inch shells for the 6-inch ones. Each inch in width converts to about 100-feet in the air, Martin said. This year's show has some powerful salutes and might set off a few car alarms.
"If that happens, we know we did it well," Martin said.
The annual show draws more than 3,000 people, said Peter Sams, who coordinated the fireworks this year for Lost Bridge.
When a November vote to increase homeowners association fees failed, the $5,000 budget for the fireworks show was cut to $3,000.
Donations helped finance this year's show, he said. Lost Bridge and Starkey marinas chipped in $1,000 each. Sams estimates the 18-minute show will have a final price tag at just under $7,000.
July Fourth weekend is the biggest holiday on the lake, said Jim Humphreys, part-owner of Lost Bridge Marina.
The fireworks show doesn't necessarily boost business, Humphreys said. But while the show itself may or may not bring people to to the lake, they come, he said.
"They certainly go watch the fireworks," Humphreys said.
Steve Womack, owner of Starkey Marina, also supported the show this year.
"We're just trying to do our part to promote this part of the lake," Womack said.
A large fireworks display been a tradition in Lost Bridge, Sams said.
"If we don't get contributions, there might not be one next year," he said.
The Lost Bridge Village Community Association will have an August vote to decide on a fee increase, said Jon Testut, president of the association.
In November, residents were asked to up the annual homeowners association fees to $195 on improved lots and $130 on unimproved lots. It failed by 16 votes, Testut said.
This year's vote would be to raise annual fees to $160 on improved lots and $112 on unimproved lots.
Currently a homeowner on an improved lot, one that is served by sewer, pays $96 a year. When visitors come to the village and hear the fee, they often ask if it is for a single month, Testut said.
The money is needed for roads to fix potholes, plow in winter, mow in the summer and keep the community's 2003 tractor and 1994 truck running, Testut said.
The swimming pool and tennis courts could use improvement, Testut said. A library and computer center could be enhanced. Those amenities, the airstrip and the boat launch ramp are things people come to the community for and need to be kept up.
There have been four failed attempts to increase the fee since 2002, when the current rates were set, Testut said. The proposed increase would add $46,000 a year to the budget of the association.
There are 2,548 lots in Posey Mountain, Deerwood, Cedar Forest Acres, Whitney Mountain II and Lost Bridge Village, according to the association's website.
Notices on the proposal were mailed to property owners Monday, Testut said. If the increase fails, services will suffer.
"We've already talked about what things we're going to have to eliminate. Things like the fireworks would be at the top of the list," he said.
Volunteers sell hamburgers and hot dogs before the fireworks show and there are jars in place for people to donate, Sams said. Donations are usually in the hundreds, he said. A fireworks show runs in the thousands.
"If you've got $3,000 to spend on fireworks you might as well go down to a tent and spend it all there," he said.
She works within a budget, Martin said, but the minimum show Hog Wild Pyrotechnics plans is $5,000.
Sams said he hopes a little old-fashioned American spirit will bring in donations for the show and grow a bigger display.
People forget what July Fourth is about, he said. He hopes the patriotic music and fireworks salutes inspire viewers to remember the hardship endured at Valley Forge and Normandy in the name of freedom.
"If nothing else think about those people who were just a bunch of ragtag farmers, but said 'Let's get our musket loaders and pitchforks and we're going to take on the world's most powerful army,'" Sams said.
NW News on 07/03/2015