Mayor says Port Royal will make up for disappointing July 4 display
By Mike McCombs
After a disappointing July 4 fireworks display Sunday, Town of Port Royal Mayor Joe DeVito is promising a make-up show sometime in the fall.
The fireworks were scheduled to be launched from a barge near The Sands around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. By 10 p.m., those who had gathered were still waiting. When the fireworks finally went off, the show was extremely abbreviated.
“First of all, we want to thank everybody that came out to see the show and experience the Fourth of July with Port Royal,” DeVito said in a video message posted to Facebook on Monday. “And we know that we’re all disappointed in what ended up happening.”
So what did happen?
According to DeVito’s Facebook message, the crew responsible for putting on the show discovered a wiring issue. By 9:30 p.m., it become obvious it wasn’t an easy fix.
DeVito said by 9:45, Port Royal officials asked the crew to shoot off what fireworks they could. That resulted in the abbreviated show that went off at 10 p.m.
“It was not what we all anticipated, it was not what we all expected to happen,” DeVito said. “But it was the best that we could offer in a situation that was outside our control.”
DeVito said Port Royal’s fireworks contractor had agreed to return at a later date and put on a complete show. He said when officials decide on a date, likely in the fall, they will post something online.
“Like you, we were disappointed, but we’re not giving up in any way having a fireworks show in Port Royal, and we will let you know as soon as we can make that happen in the fall,” DeVito said. “Thank you for coming out last night. We’re sorry for what happened.”
Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
Above: After waiting for more than an hour, people began to leave and boats began blowing their horns in protest of the much-anticipated Fourth of July fireworks show Sunday night at The Sands in Port Royal. The show got off to a late start because of technical issues. It culminated after only a few minutes with the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner over the public address system. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
