ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: MICHAEL CROAN STAFF WRITER
PERHAPS THE WEATHER has slowed business this week, but fireworks sellers hope for a last-minute rush to their stands today.
Joe Glover looked like a man at peace.
Instead of frantically serving a rush of customers, the Aberdeen, Md., resident worked on his tan and gazed lazily at traffic in front of his fireworks stand at Electric Road and Main Street in Salem.
"I'm enjoying it," Glover said of his mini-vacation. "I'm off. I've got the time. I can do it. Why not?''
Only one day before Independence Day, Glover and other fireworks vendors had yet to experience the business boom associated with, say, the day before Christmas.
"Everybody likes to do last-minute shopping," 18-year-old Wes Woolwine said as he and fellow Roanoker Jim Creasey waited for customers at their tent beside Glover's stand.
Tuesday's rains didn't do much for business, either.
"Right when we got here it started raining," Woolwine said.
"If it had been about 10 minutes earlier, we would have been set up, and we would have had a big mess," Creasey added.
In spite of Tuesday's torrents, vendors said there was little to complain about.
Glover has manned stands owned by his friend, Robert Garber of Lynchburg, the past three years. "Picked up some extra bucks, got rained out. It's a slice of life, Jack," he said.
Mike Stigman of Lynchburg, who worked another Garber-owned stand on Electric Road at Roanoke Boulevard, could think of only one downside: "You can't smoke in the booth, unfortunately."
Although the vendors' work may be a breeze, the owners of fireworks stands consider their part of the job a chore.
Garber, a Lynchburg City Council member who owns five fireworks stands in the Roanoke Valley and whose family owns about 25 stands across the state, said the planning, and the obtaining of permits and licenses necessary to build and run a fireworks stand, are time-consuming and costly.
"You have to pick a location; get zoning verification - which means to find out if the area is permitted to have sales at all; get a building permit; draw up a site plan explaining how the location will be laid out; get a business license. It takes a lot of time and effort to get one operating," he said.
Garber said the process costs $1,000 or more, and each stand costs almost $1,000 to build. And that's before the fireworks are purchased.
"Some years you make money, and some years you don't make money," he said. So why does he do it?
"I like fireworks. People like fireworks. Kids like fireworks," he said. "I think we need to celebrate Independence Day, July 4, and I like to be a part of it."
"It's Independence Day," said Chris Vilagi, who leases space for Garber's stand at Electric Road and Roanoke Boulevard. "People like to see fireworks. They like to shoot 'em off."
However, it's the shooting them off that keeps many fire and rescue workers on edge this time of year.
"Any [fireworks] that explode or project in any fashion are illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia," said Lt. Eddie Fielder, of Roanoke's Fire Administration Office.
That means no firecrackers, no bottle rockets or skyrockets, no Roman candles and no M-80s, all of which can cause serious injury if improperly used.
Fielder said lighting fireworks in the streets or in a parking lot also is illegal. The owner is supposed to light them only on his or her private property.
"We recommend that kids don't use them at all, but if they're going to, they should be supervised by an adult," he said. "And we recommend that people light them in as clear an area as possible.
"We would just as soon people go out and watch the fireworks. That's the safest way to do it."
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN/Staff. Mike Stigman catches up on hisby CNBreading while awaiting customers Wednesday at a fireworks stand on
Electric Road and Roanoke
Boulevard. Graphic by AP. color.