CORONAVIRUS: STRONGER TOGETHER
Cache Valley Donors Help Organize County-Wide Firework Show
Jul 3, 2020, 11:04 PM | Updated: Sep 18, 2020, 10:17 am
RICHMOND, Utah – With so many Fourth of July celebrations canceled, more than 50 Cache Valley business owners pitched in for a county-wide fireworks show.
Giving up traditions, including something so many people expect every Independence Day, was not so easy to just let go.
“We weren’t okay with that, just on multiple levels, you know?” said Shane Petersen, vice president of Casper’s Ice Cream in Richmond.
Casper’s is a regular donor to the show at Maverik Stadium. This year, they were given their money back after the show was canceled due to that virus we’ve heard so much about.
Petersen said they wanted to do something for everyone in the valley.
“Number one, the fact that things have just been hard for the last few months,” he said. “Number two, it’s a celebration of our freedoms, and our liberties and everything else.”
Their company is best known for the Fat Boy ice cream sandwich — something that you might say is also uniquely American.
They went to work on getting others to pitch in, and come to the rescue.
“And sure enough, as soon as we sent the emails out, immediately the responses were, ‘oh, we were hoping someone would do this,’ ‘oh, we thought about doing that,’” Keith Lawes said.
In just one week, they had over 50 businesses and several private donors. Over $100,000 was raised — enough money for a county-wide celebration.
Four locations, one show — all coordinated with music from a local radio station.
“So rather than packing in all of these seats like we’re used to seeing, the idea is that people can simply sit back and enjoy the show, from their own backyard.”
Firework shows started simultaneously in Richmond, North Logan, Providence and Hyrum Friday night.
“Kind of just a way to give back and give people a little bit of hope, and promise that there’s going to be a brighter day,” Petersen said.
Maybe next year, it can all come back to the stadium. For now, the folks here were just glad so many people made it possible to raise those funds in just one week’s time.
“We had a lot of faith in the people in the valley, that they would come together, and support the community that have supported them over the years and their businesses,” Lawes said.
While thousands of people couldn’t be together, they could still celebrate as one.
