North Lake Tahoe fireworks display show finalize budgets

Location of fireworks display: Incline Beach

City:Incline Village :
State:NV
Date:4th July
Show contact:RWTB Steering Committee
Event website:
Fireworks display company:Pyro Guys

Details:INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — With about a month to go before Fourth of July Weekend, plans for fireworks around the lake are being finalized.In Incline, there will be fireworks during the Red, White and Tahoe Blue festival on July 4 at Incline Beach. The RWTB Steering Committee, headed by Bill Horn, recently finalized negotiations with Pyro Guys from Reno on a $35,000 fireworks contract.“We’re pretty pleased with the contract, and it’s a local company, too,” Horn said.In 2007, the event’s first year, the fireworks cost $75,000. In 2008, they cost $115,000 — $89,000 for the fireworks, the rest paying for two barges, with a total square footage of 3,525 square feet — said RWTB committee member Tom Masterson. RWTB contracted with Lantis Fireworks and Lasers in 2008, which has nine offices across the nation, mainly through the Mountain Time Zone.This year, the barge costs about $15,000, and that, coupled with the Pyro Guys contract and additional costs for insurance and security fees puts the entire show at about $65,000.The July 3 show will feature 1,740 total aerial effects, including about 900 various-sized “premium shells,” which consist of “concerts of color and shapes, including chrysanthemums and peonies in a variety of colors, diamonds, bouquets, color changing (and) glittering patterns, according to the agreement with Pyro Guys.“Last year’s show was the same mix of products just twice as much,” Masterson said.In early April, a “desperate written plea” was mailed to Incline/Crystal Bay residents, urging families to donate at least $25 or more to fund the display, the goal being to raise $80,000 to fund the fireworks display for the Fourth of July event.As of Thursday, about $56,000 had been collected via community donations, said RWTB committee member Gerry Eick.Also coming via donation is $20,000 from the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe and a $2,500 anonymous pledge, Eick said, putting fundraising for the entire RWTB event this year at about $80,000.“I feel very good about the community’s response. We’ve had close to 600 donors so far,” Eick said. “We can still use donations to support the other activities like the veterans event, parade and kids events.”With fireworks paid for, any surplus of community fundraising will go either toward the entire proceeds raised this year, or for a “rainy day fund,” Horn said, to save funds for a 2010 fireworks show.As has been the case the previous two years, all proceeds from the entire July 2 to 4 Red, White and Tahoe Blue events are split among local charities — this year they are the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Incline, the Incline Village Rotary Club and the Incline Schools Academic Excellence Foundation.
Tahoe City spending $16K for its showThe Tahoe City Downtown association is again this year sponsoring a Fourth of July fireworks show over Lake Tahoe. The event takes place at dusk on the Fourth and will feature a show put on by Pyro Spectaculars out of Placerville, Calif.Justin Broglio, executive director of the TCDA, said community help is necessary for the event, which raises money for next year’s show. This year’s show costs about $16,000 Broglio said, a step down from the $18,000 spent last year.“This year the Tahoe City Rotary Club and TCDA elected to be conservative and not spend as much as we usually spend in light of the economic situation,” Broglio said. “Even though we’re conservative, we’re still going to have a spectacular show.”Broglio credited event sponsors like the Rotary, North Tahoe Fire Protection District, Placer County Office of Emergency Services and U.S. Coast Guard for their support of the event. Businesses interested in sponsoring the event, which starts at $250, can contact Broglio at justin@visittahoecity.com.The TCDA sells T-shirts during the day in front of the North Tahoe Fire Protection District’s Tahoe City fire station for $15 or two for $25.
Kings Beach looking to fund $20K showThe North Tahoe Business Association is sponsoring a fireworks show July 3 at the public utility beach in Kings Beach. Cheri Sprenger, executive director of the NTBA, said the organization has a great need for community support to get the $20,000 show off of the ground.“This year we’re more dependent on that support than ever,” Sprenger said. “We depend on business sponsorships and individual donations.”Sprenger said donation and sponsorships forms are available on the NTBA’s website at ntbamainstreet.com. Business sponsorships start at $250 all the way up to $5,000.