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Michael Ridge, (left), and Dewey Madison, (right), state licensed pyro technicians, wire up the finale racks of 250 shots.
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – Of all the crews that worked the more than 300 4th of July weekend fireworks shows for the La Follette Pyro Shows Office, only one crew had the honor of putting on a show for the home folks. “I love doing the hometown show,” said crew leader Jason Shetterly, now in his 28th year with Pyro.
VERY TOP PHOTO: Charlie Hutson flies Eagle I high above the launch pad for Friday night’s fireworks show.
Shetterly explained the full blown prep for the La Follette show started Friday just before noon. He and the crew built racks on Thursday and finished building the rest on Friday. It was about a seven to eight hour prep time for the 15 to 20 minute show that featured nearly 1,000 shots. Once a rack is loaded, it’s covered and protected, and that was added insurance with Friday’s intermittent rain.
This truck was once completely full ahead of Friday’s prep.
“Lansden (Hill, founder of Pyro) always makes sure there’s a little something extra for the hometown show,” Shetterly said. Shetterly started as a high schooler as a grunt for Hill, a man he calls a “smart guy and a fine guy.”
See more Charlie Hutson photos HERE.
Having the hometown show close to Pyro’s Midway facility makes it easy if the crew forgets something or needs something extra. Another perk for Shetterly’s crew is that they are all firefighters meaning there is a safety element that comes with them.
Shetterly says the racks weigh between 40 and 60 pounds.
For Friday night’s shoot, there was a fire extinguisher close by with the La Follette Fire Department not too far away in the field, and the Campbell County Rural Fire Service staged in the parking lot of nearby Roane State College. Another safety measure is the fireworks remain covered until it’s time to light. “We don’t want any ash to start the finale early,” Shetterly said with a chuckle.
The crew of shooters may be seen wearing shorts, T-shirts and sneakers during the set up, but that all changes by show time. They suit up in Nomex firefighters gear along with gloves, ear and eye protection.
The La Follette crew manually lights this show actually lighting each individual shell. As it does, Shetterly uses a stop watch and is continually directing the shooters to either speed up or slow down with shoulder taps, hand signals and a flashlight. He calls it “full out hard work as they go wide open from the countdown.” The crew leader’s main concerns for the shoot are keeping the crew hydrated, no failures and no hitches.
Unless there is lightning around or a driving rain, the show goes on even if it’s raining some. (Left to right) Jason Shetterly, Michael Ridge and Dewey Madison.
Moments before the show starts, Shetterly always calls La Follette Mayor Mike Stanfield and gives him the countdown. The mayor’s viewing spot is traditionally at the La Follette Church of God.
These fireworks fans staked out their “watch spot” before 6:30 pm Friday evening in the Roane State College parking lot. (Left to right) Pam Wilson of Jacksboro and Teresa Madison from Caryville will have a line of sight look (below) of when the fireworks are shot and the crew in action. Teresa is shooter Dewey Madison’s sister.
“As soon as the show ends, in this case after the 250 shot finale, the crowd lets you know instantly how good of a job you did. We can hear the crowd all the way down to Woodson Mall, and we just soak it up,” Shetterly said. The crew then exhales, rehydrates and cools down. Once the racks have cooled, they’ll breakdown and make sure each mortar is empty before placing the racks back on the truck.
And the finished product.
For the La Follette show, the crew called it a day not long after midnight Saturday morning. For Shetterly, he’s calling it an end to this career, at least temporarily. And perhaps it was only fitting that his bittersweet finale came before the home folks in the show he loves putting on the most. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/09/2019-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)