Falmouth Fireworks in the News

Press Release (Wednesday, June 26, 2024) The Falmouth Fireworks Committee is thrilled to be presenting our 2024 display on Thursday, July 4 at 9:00 PM. As always, we want to provide a safe environment for everyone, including our local wildlife.  There are piping plovers and nesting terns nesting in our south-facing beaches.  Since these are popular areas for viewing the fireworks, we ask that patrons exhibit extreme care not to disturb these nesting birds. 
There are additional State mandated requirements in effect this year. Specifically, please observe the following:

1.  No dogs allowed on the beaches along Surf Drive

2.  Respect the fencing and signage along Surf Drive

3.  Stay out of fenced-in areas along Surf Drive

4.  Respect and follow the directions of the Mass Audubon monitors and Town Staff. 
Thank you for your cooperation. Let’s enjoy a safe evening for all. 

2024

The Falmouth Fireworks have become so ingrained in the identity of our community that it’s difficult to imagine a Falmouth Fourth of July without them. However, there was a time before our summer sky was lit up with multi-colored pyrotechnics and the Heights ballfield and beach were filled with 30,000 happy revelers.

That time was pre-1980. That’s the year that a group of Falmouthites gathered together at the Holiday Inn for a few drinks and some brainstorming on a cold winter’s night and decided that Falmouth should have a fireworks celebration. Arthur Ratsy was there at the beginning. We shared a breakfast at the Talk of the Town in North Falmouth recently, and he effusively and with precision recounted the day the Falmouth Fireworks was born. At the time, Arthur was working for the Island Queen and sought $1,000 from IQ owner Charlie Bardelis Sr. Ever the community champion, Charlie agreed, and each summer since, the Falmouth Fireworks have been a summer highlight.

Today, more than 40 years later, the Falmouth Fireworks and Arthur Ratsy are still going strong. Arthur’s 88-year-old body may have slowed down a bit, but his wit, his commitment and his passion are as sharp and strong as ever.

“I’ll keep doing this until I’m 100,” he declared enthusiastically, his passion for the Falmouth Fireworks evident in his declaration and his continued tireless work for a cause that has become part of his Falmouth identity.

Each year, the fundraising for the fireworks is anchored by T-shirt sales, with each year’s T-shirt design painstakingly and lovingly completed by Falmouth’s artist-in-residence and local legend Karen Rinaldo. Karen is a member of the Fireworks Committee and joined us at breakfast and talked about this year’s design—launched officially today—that honors our nation’s early days, but connects them with Falmouth. Karen calls it a “thinking person’s design” and hopes that evokes feelings of peace and inclusiveness. The motto on the T-shirt is “Think peace — they did,” with a nod to our founders and a challenge for all of us to continue to build community and seek peace, around the corner and around the globe.

Over the years, a variety of fundraisers and community events have supported the annual fundraising requirement, which has grown from a $6,000 show at the beginning to a cost approaching $100,000 today. Arthur and I chuckled and recounted a “celebrity serve” spaghetti supper at the Flying Bridge many years ago, where he and I served throngs of fireworks supporters with plentiful food and laughter. The Town of Falmouth is a key partner in this event, providing public safety and other logistical support, absorbing those costs in its annual budget and not charging the Falmouth Fireworks; it is a true partnership and community event.

As always, the T-shirts, which account each year for more than $25,000 in fundraising, will be available at pop-up volunteer sales events at Stop & Shop, Windfall Market and the Farmers Market, staffed by more than a dozen volunteers and the Falmouth Fireworks Board of Directors. Direct donations can be made on the Fireworks website at: falmouthfireworks.org. Also, Shipwrecked in Falmouth Heights has been a perennial supporter and holds fundraisers every year.

Fireworks Committee President John Quesnel highlighted the immense support from the community, including Falmouth’s business community and citizens from across the US. He shared details of a donation that came in from California, underscoring the wide support this event receives. John retired to Falmouth 25 years ago and was looking for a way to give back. Longtime Fireworks volunteer Dutch Drollette drafted him, and he’s been part of the effort ever since. “This is our favorite time of the year,” he explained. Thanks to the tireless work of the Falmouth Fireworks Committee, it is many of ours, too.

At the end of our breakfast, Arthur underscored his commitment to the Falmouth Fireworks and his 40-plus years of volunteering, noting that, “it means so much to me.” Well, Arthur, John, Karen and all of the volunteers for the Falmouth Fireworks Committee, what you do means so much to us. We are grateful for your commitment to this summer tradition and are ready to support another burst of color in the summer sky. Karen closed out our visit by saying that, “Falmouth is a great spirited town!” Yes, indeed, Karen, and Falmouth will be ready to support another great and spirited event.

2023

An eager crowd gathered in vain in Falmouth Heights on July 5, dining from food trucks and listening to music while waiting to see a postponed Fourth of July fireworks show. Early arrivals witnessed clear blue skies darken in a foggy haze around 6:30 PM, two-and-a-half hours before the intended start at dusk.

Falmouth Fireworks president John Quesnel said committee members watched from Falmouth Heights Beach as Stephen Pelkey, who has been running the show for several decades, and the Pyrotecnico crew on the barge in the harbor disappeared from view under the setting sun and fog. Officials from the committee, the police department, and Pyrotecnico talked over the next several hours, debating if the fireworks could be set off in spite of the weather, hoping the fog would lift.

Mr. Pelkey set off a test shell just before 9 PM, lighting up the fog layer with dim colors. Two more flashes would be the only show the crowd would see before Mr. Quesnel’s voice announced at 9:30 PM over the intercom that the show could not go on.

“We had a hard decision to make,” Mr. Quesnel said in a phone call yesterday, Thursday, July 6. The crew debated if they should set off a show only faintly visible or save the fireworks for a bigger show next year. “We picked the best of two bad choices.”

The crowd surprised Mr. Quesnel. Only a few grumbles erupted as he announced the cancellation before they dispersed in an orderly fashion.

“The toughest decisions are the ones that will disappoint your friends and neighbors,” Mr. Quesnel said. “We feel more bad than they do.”

The “extremely disappointed” committee has been meeting monthly, fundraising for and organizing the show for a year, he said. The show had already been delayed, postponed from the Fourth of July on account of thunderstorms. That decision had to be made by 10 AM on July 4, before the barge in New Bedford was packed with the fireworks and set sail and support officers from state and local police departments arrived in town. Once the barge begins the passage across Buzzards Bay, one of the most expensive budget items in the contract is already committed, and the town is on the hook for the entire Falmouth Police Department being on duty for the show.

Mr. Quesnel said all of the details that went into motion once the barge left New Bedford on July 5 make rescheduling the event this year cost-prohibitive. Committee member Karen Rinaldo said the committee was hard at work trying to recoup the cost by selling T-shirts at the beach. But the fireworks themselves can be salvaged to “hopefully” make next year’s show one worth waiting for. The committee will meet on Monday to begin planning for July 4, 2024.

“We thank everyone for the support we always receive,” Mr. Quesnel said. Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer with the fireworks committee can apply on its website at falmouthfireworks.org. “Then they can see how easy it is.”

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