Fireworks dazzle Red Rock crowds

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

Fireworks explode in the night sky over the arena at Red Rock Park after the completion of the third performance at the 59th annual Lions Club Rodeo Friday night. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

GALLUP — When the Chinese stumbled upon the explosive power of combining charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter some 2,000 years ago, they used the sonic blast of the first firecrackers to scare off Nian, a not-so-friendly spirit with an appetite for crops and people.

But there was no need to ward of evil spirits by the end of the Lions Club Rodeo Friday night. The crowd was in good cheer by the time the lights went out just shy of 9:30 and a steady stream of firecrackers ripped through the sky, coloring the night above Red Rock Park all shades of the rainbow.

For Mervin Cody, 7, in town from Albuquerque with his mother and two sisters to visit with family, the fireworks show was the finishing touch on an evening full of bareback broncs and bucking bulls.

"I liked the really big ones," said Cody, stretching out his arms as far apart as they would go, of the firecrackers that took up the most sky.

The show came courtesy of Fireworks Productions of Arizona, the Phoenix-based outfit that is providing the rodeo with fireworks for the second straight year. But after some 16 years in the business, even Fireworks Productions' John Hagelstein cannot get enough of Red Rock Park.

"After last year's experience, I know the view is absolutely spectacular with the fireworks reflecting off the red rocks of the canyon and the sound reverberating off the canyon walls," he said. "It's one of my favorite places to shoot."

During the course of the show, Hagelstein and his crew launched some 140 three- to four-inch mortars reaching up to 500 feet into the sky.

"It's the real deal," he said.

Anyone who missed the show Friday will have another chance tonight at the park following the rodeo.