By Andy Johns,
Anniston Star Staff Writer, 12-27-2007

Anniston residents get an extra helping of "boom" this holiday season.

The $10,000 fireworks show the city had planned for July 3 but postponed because of the drought will launch instead on New Year's Eve at 7 p.m.

Parks and Recreation Department program director Angie Shockley said the New Year's show will be something new for the city, but should be a good event for families.

The rockets will launch from a parking lot on Exchange Avenue near the Longleaf Lodge at McClellan. The coordinated explosions should be visible from all over the grounds of the old fort, Shockley said.

Dan Walters, of Pyrotecnico, said he has shot fireworks in Anniston for 13 years and the New Year's show should be very similar to the Fourth of July launch.

"The only difference will be the temperature," he said.

Forecasters predict the low to be 35 on New Year's Eve.

Walters said he will use a similar repertoire to the show he shot for Jacksonville's Independence Day celebration, with the addition of a few eight-inch shells - the biggest in his arsenal.

Shockley said the city-wide burn ban this summer put the normal July launch at Woodland Park out of the question.

"We always set the grass on fire even in a rainy year," she said.

When the drought persisted through the normal reschedule date of Labor Day, she said New Year's Eve was another logical date. Since December is usually one of Anniston's wettest months and this weekend's forecast calls for storms it should be a much safer time for fireworks, Shockley said.

As for the rest of the forecast, Shockley said there probably would be plenty of spectators who brave the cold.

"They can sit in their car until 7 and then jump out to watch the fireworks," she said.

She said Exchange Avenue and Berman Road would be closed at 6:30 p.m. and opened immediately after the show. She said the McClellan location should provide plenty of space for parking.

Anniston City Manager George Monk said the show should be back in early July in 2008, but is a nice addition to the other Christmas and New Year's events this year.

"It'll be a great ending to a great holiday season," he said.

12/27/2007