What, the granddaddy of them all, the Stillwater fireworks show, will not be held on the Fourth Of July, rather being pushed back at least three days to Sunday (we think and see the end of this post) because of high water on the St. Croix River, over which the works glow each year.
So what other thing to do on Your Fourth, and all weekend, and further into July and beyond? Something that can be done for all these months, to revisit the experience, as its found this weekend.
Go fireworks shopping!
Thusly, I headed for Fireworks Nation, on the north end of North Hudson. Even though I profiled them in a post that’s down two from this one, I couldn’t hold back from blasting a photo of their thousands of items that flood their entire showroom, which used to be a bank – like the river is flooding its banks right now, and cresting as we speak.
The photo is in the corner of this post. Yes, this is said to be the biggest such conglomeration in the area of fireworks products for sale, and it stays as fully restocked as you see in the photo, during all the months – through fall at least – that they are open.
So if you are planning a big birthday or wedding, or anniversary, especially one with years ending in a zero, and don’t want you’re family to think that you are a zero …
You can see how easy it is. The big boxes, resting on large pallets, are full through all of their about a dozen aisles, with samples to show what’s inside them propped in front. In most aisles there are signs on the floor to provide added info.
Myself, I’m a junkie for the packagings just as much as what’s inside them. A bunch even say they are of an authentic Chinese variety! Could that be Godzilla on the cover? No wait a minute …
Not unlikely, though, as in their marketing there are mongo movie and music figures, on the covers, and I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Sinatra! And monsters and wizards and clowns and flashing bright colors, taking the form of arrows and waves and yes, rockets.
I will close this section of this post with a bit of trivia. With Godzilla, via the moviemakers in Japan and musicmakers in Blue Oyster Cult, you get both media.
But also, is Stillwater indeed having fireworks anytime this weekend? Many news reports say it will be sometime later this summer, TBA. But all such reports to be seen online, to confirm a reading of a Sunday show that was said to be a reschedule date, are currently very dated. That friend of a friend, from Roberts, was sure enough of a Sunday rescheduling to have us try our best to make plans to stake a parking space on the neighboring Houlton Hill — a bit past Fireworks Nation. Other unofficial sources in Hudson, clerks mostly, freely talked about the event that their city fireworks — the other big ones in the region but second fiddle to Stillwater — would now be going head-to-head on Sunday, and they’ve got a sales stake in getting it right. The two cities have had a sort of gentlemen’s agreement to always schedule days so they don’t compete with each other. Another local usually in the know, a bit removed as being from River Falls, scoffed about the reschedule.
So stay tuned here.