Men's Club fireworks another success in 2021

Fireworks brought to you by the Manchester Men's Club.

There may be "a little rust to shake off" after taking a year off from the big event, said Men's Club President Andy Mahony, but overall the club is celebrating another successful year and looking forward to its 40th anniversary in 2022.

"I am really proud of the club and its members," Mahony said. "It was a weird year, things were rushed, but overall the event went smoothly."

He acknowledged that there was a mishap in wiring the grand finale fireworks — the fuses were too short, causing everything to go off almost simultaneously, but promises this minor glitch will be resolved for next year's event! He also clarified that an unrelated emergency call in Freedom Township was not the reason that the finale was somewhat abbreviated, although many had speculated that may have been the cause.

"The community was great," Mahony added. "This was the most donations we've had in quite a few years, about $12,000. We'll be doing some additional fund-raising as we hope to light off $15,000 in fireworks for our anniversary next year!"

He noted that Andrews Family Chiropractic, Frank's Place, and RJ Welding had stepped up with sizable donations this year and this support was much appreciated by the Men's Club members. He also said that they had received a lot of donations via their Paypal link on Facebook, which was new this year. He emphasized that this fireworks display is complete community-funded and does not have corporate sponsorships, which makes the amount of money collected especially significant.

"The beer tent wasn't as full as in recent years," Mahony noted, "although we increased our hand-washing and sanitizer stations, had more bathrooms than in prior years. Overall, though, the crowd in the park was great."

He concluded by saying he hopes that the fireworks were a big boon to the businesses and the community. "Driving through town to get to the fireworks, people have an opportunity to see what our community has to offer," he said. "I think a lot of businesses benefited."

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.