SAGINAW, MI — With four days until the holiday, crews on Friday, July 1, readied the next batch of fireworks on Ojibway Island, where they will launch come Fourth of July.
For the eighth consecutive year, Wolverine Fireworks staff will handle the logistical effort involved in preparing and coordinating an aerial display that organizers bill as the largest fireworks show in Michigan on the Fourth of July.
Thomas Roy, the president of Saginaw Area Fireworks, said his nonprofit will spend $135,000 on the fireworks festival this year. That figure surpasses the annual event’s previous record budget: $125,000 last year.
“It brings people together; it’s very patriotic,” Roy said. “From when I first started, it’s watching the little kids see that first boom and that first light up and they’re looking up and they’re eyes are bulged and they have that smile on their face and that right there makes it all worth it.”
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are unloaded from a truck on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are unloaded from a truck on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tubes into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Fireworks are set up on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Holes are dug to put fiberglass tube into the ground to house the fireworks on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Ojibway Island in Saginaw. The display will be on Monday, July 4. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)
Much of that budget will be spent on the fireworks that Wolverine Fireworks crews began setting up Friday morning, although the Monday show will feature other elements. For example, a foursome of World War II-era warplanes will fly over the island four times at about 8 p.m., adding to the show’s patriotic spectacle, Roy said.
Early weather forecasts appear relatively favorable for Monday. AccuWeather predicts temperatures will reach a high of 89 degrees on a mostly sunny day. The evening forecast includes “a couple of showers and a heavy thunderstorm.” The fireworks show begins after sunset.
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