SHAWANO, WI – The City of Shawano will celebrate Independence Day Friday night with their annual fireworks show.
Once again, the airport grounds will be open for parking and viewing.
Airport officials say COVID-19 and social distancing will not result in the closing of the fireworks viewing at the airport, but people are coming at their own risk and should continue to use safe habits while attending.
“We can’t enforce, but we strongly recommend that people social distance, we recommend masks and of course if you are sick, please stay home,” said Paul Kersten, Chairman of the Shawano Fireworks Committee. “We recommend that you stay in your vehicle, turn the air on, listen to the music on WTCH and enjoy the show safely.”
Kersten says they do understand that people will want to sit in chairs or spread out a blanket to watch the show. He says they are not preventing people from doing that, but personal space should still be respected.
Earlier in the week, the Church on the Hill and Hope Community Church announced that they are not holding their annual firework watching gathering this year.
“We know that people may park here, and that is fine, but the building will not be open, so know that there will not be any restroom facility available here,” said Todd Bonnin of Hope Community Church.
As far as where people can park, there are other options.
“You will have parking at Lakeshore Lanes, Launching Pad and Hope Church, Kersten said. “Most of these places are going to recommend people staying in their vehicle to watch the show.”
Shawano is one of few communities still putting on a firework show this weekend. Kersten says Shawano’s format has two things going for them.
“Many of the local communities canceled their events because they have some sort of function that goes along with the fireworks, and there is really no good way to control social distancing,” he said. “The uniqueness of the Shawano fireworks is that we shoot them off from the Shawano Airport and there is lots of area to spread out and watch, and we have a huge lake that people watch from, but more importantly, we don’t have a separate event that brings people together that day so we can control social distancing.”
Kersten says there is an organized way that people will be asked to leave the airport grounds.
“The Sheriff Department is going to be directing traffic on the northside of the airport and will be directing all traffic north on Airport Road. On the Southside, we have Airport Lane, and the City of Shawano Police Department will be directing all traffic south on Airport Lane.”
He says law enforcement is asking that people do not park along the road and also watch out for pedestrian traffic.
On Thursday, the State Health Department requested that people refrain from gathering in groups for the Fourth of July Weekend, urging Wisconsin residents to stay home.
Kersten said the donations are down as expected, and the show was scaled down but he says it should not be that noticeable.
The fireworks will start at 9:30 Friday night and the show will last 20 minutes. Once again this year, WTCH will provide patriotic music during the show. You can hear that on 96.1 FM or AM 960.
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