News

July 6, 2009

Family fireworks fun

Event dazzles at area church

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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KINGSTON TWP. – Snuggled in sleeping bags with their parents close by, the four youngsters waited impatiently for the skies to grow dark.

Only then could the highlight of the evening begin – most probably the biggest fireworks display of the Fourth of July weekend in Luzerne County.

“It’s awesome!” 10-year-old Katie and 5-year-old Cari exclaimed in unison, shooting their arms out of their sleeping bags with simultaneous thumbs-up.

Their brother, Casey, 7, said “Pizza Paul” Adamchick’s annual fireworks display at the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly church grounds in Trucksville is “probably 1,000 times better” than the city of Wilkes-Barre’s annual display at Kirby Park, as his brother Kyle, 12, silently agreed.

Casey’s estimation might be a bit high, given that Adamchick estimated he used about five times the amount of pyrotechnics used at Kirby Park on Saturday, and three to four times the amount used for an average show, but the kids’ dad, Ted Kaminski, of Hunlock Creek, insists there’s really “no comparison.”

“I think it’s pretty generous of (Adamchick), and the church to donate their land,” said Kaminski, who arrived with his wife, Beth, and their children around 7 p.m. Sunday for the show.

Jared Samuel, of Dallas, agreed, as he walked with his wife, Sherryl, and 3-year-old son Isaiah back to their lawn chairs, carrying hot dogs from the Back Mountain Harvest Assembly Royal Rangers food tent.

“If it’s any bit as good as last year’s, it will be the best one around,” Samuel said. “I went to high school with Paul. This is a pretty terrific thing he does, especially at a time when nobody’s giving much of anything and he’s still giving.”

Adamchick, who acquired the name “Pizza Paul” after working at his parents’ business, Pizza Perfect on Carverton Road, for nearly three decades, has paid the bill for past shows. And he makes sure every year’s display is better than the one from the previous year.

“We wanted to keep this thing going. … The church is chipping in this year. But we’re always looking for donations and sponsors,” said Adamchick, who is now a certified pyrotechnician and runs Pizza Paul’s Pyrotechnics.

Including the cost of sand, gasoline, insurance and the fireworks themselves, it cost more than $25,000 to put on the show. If anyone was paid, it would have cost twice that amount, Adamchick said.

Bob Dennis, who has assisted Adamchick for the past three years, said more than 1,000 10- and 12-inch shells are used just for the finale, plus about 500 3- to 8-inch shells leading up to it.

“These shells are going to be very entertaining – patterns, shapes, words … not just your typical bursts in the sky,” he said.

HOW TO HELP

Donations for Pizza Paul’s fireworks may be sent to: Back Mountain Harvest Assembly, 340 Carverton Road, or to Pizza Perfect, 16 Carverton Road, Trucksville, Pa. 18708. Write "fireworks donation" in the memo.

Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor for next year’s show or in booking Pizza Paul’s Pyrotechnics should call 760-0978.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

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