Celebrate Oldsmar will feature fireworks, a band and $1 food. About 8,000 are expected to attend tonight.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published August 30, 2003
OLDSMAR - Fireworks are the stuff of small towns. Mayors are elected, budgets are set and residents stew over their local Fourth of July celebrations.
Six years ago, Mayor Jerry Beverland certainly fussed when nonstop downpours ruined his city's first aerial display.
"It just rained, hard, all day," Beverland said of July 4, 1997. "I just couldn't believe it."
So the city postponed the fireworks to Labor Day weekend. Since then, Oldsmar's show has been eight weeks late every year, Beverland's been re-elected, and at least two other Pinellas cities, Dunedin and Safety Harbor, have been on-the-record jealous.
When Oldsmar lights up the skies over the bay for 25 minutes tonight, its show will be the only game in town. Call it a sparkle of serendipity.
"We own the skies all to ourselves," Beverland said. "Unless it rains."
As many as 8,000 people will gather at R.E. Olds Park, 107 Shore Drive W, tonight to watch fireworks, nibble on cheap food and listen to music, Beverland said. The event, which kicks off at 5 p.m., is called Celebrate Oldsmar.
The fireworks start around 9:45 p.m. after The Landsharks, a musical group best known for frequenting Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant in Key West, finish their four-hour set.
The group takes the stage under Oldsmar's new band shell, which remains under construction, at 5:30 p.m. Lynn Rives, Oldsmar's director of parks and recreation, said the event is like a picnic where friends can catch up and everyone can take pride in Oldsmar. The celebration also features inflatable games for children and, best yet, all the food's $1, Rives said.
"It's a great evening that's pretty much grown every year," Rives said. There's no admission charge, but organizers suggest arriving early and bringing insect repellent and chairs or a blanket.
Last year, as many as 8,000 people attended and city officials hope for a similar turnout tonight.
Beverland is crossing his fingers that the rains stay away this time. He doesn't want to celebrate Oldsmar on Thanksgiving.
