PRESS RELEASE

July 5, 2012

LITITZ, PA– The Lititz Springs Park Board of Trustees and the 195th Fourth of July Celebration Committee would like to thank all of those who attended this year’s annual celebration.  Because the Lititz Springs Park is privately owned for public use, each year the July 4^th Celebration’s proceeds go towards park maintenance, upkeep, operations, and other related expenses.   The celebration is the Park’s major fundraiser.

A main highlight of the celebration each year is the fireworks display that is fully synchronized to music.  The Park Board of Trustees contracted with Celebration Fireworks, Inc., in Kutztown, PA for this year’s pyrotechnical extravaganza.  Celebration Fireworks has been a trusted partner to the park board for the past four (4) years.

Unfortunately, as may happen with today’s technology, Celebration Fireworks experienced an equipment malfunction soon after the first firework exploded in the sky.  The result of this malfunction was that more than one-half of the aerial fireworks failed to ignite, which resulted in long gaps during the entire show.

The leadership of the Park Board and the July 4^th Committee met early on Thursday morning to discuss the show as well as to perform their due diligence in getting answers to this unhappy occurrence.  The leadership was able to speak with the President of Celebration Fireworks, John Kemps, who offered the following explanation:

 “… the problem was definitely related to the electronic system used to control the display.  We have used this same system many times in the past successfully, and this is the 1st time we have experienced a problem like this, and of this magnitude.  Approximately 1/2 of the high level shells did not fire due to the problem.  We had a great display planned, with many new effects - such as the wheels which the audience did get to see - but without most of the high-level shells, clearly the display was lacking.   We thoroughly test the system beforehand, and we had no indication that anything was amiss…As president, I wish to apologize to the entire Lititz community and to all of the sponsors and volunteers that put so much time and work into this wonderful annual event.  We remain committed to producing world-class fireworks entertainment for Lititz.  It is our firms goal to fully understand the problem and to find a solution that will prevent this from ever happening again.”

Lititz Springs Park has a reputation of putting on a world-class fireworks show and we are deeply saddened with what transpired.  

Sincerest apologies are extended to everyone who paid to attend the celebration.  The committee works very hard all year to make this celebration honoring the birth of this nation one that lives up to the highest standards, both in quality and value. 

Both the committee and the Park Board will be meeting in the upcoming days and weeks to discuss what preventative actions can be done in the future to ensure that this situation will not occur a second time.  Also, we will be meeting to discuss ways in which we can make up for this year’s show.

On behalf of the Park Board, thank you for your understanding.  Moreover, thank you for your continued support of the Lititz Springs Park. Without generous contributions from the general public and local businesses, this beautiful park would not be able to be enjoyed by our community’s families.

R. Ronald Reedy,
President
Lititz Springs Park Board of Trustees