Getting bucks for their bangs
Volunteer Steve Holmes shows off a fireworks kit Wednesday morning to Dusty Wambaugh and his grandchildren, Jared Glass, 10 and Dustin Becht, 7, at the Discount Fireworks booth at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Cedar Street.<br>Matthew Weaver/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — Volunteer Steve Holmes asks for this week off every year for his vacation.
Holmes, a truck driver, always makes sure he gets the time to volunteer at a Discount Fireworks for the days before the Fourth of July.
"I've always loved fireworks since I was kid, and always dreamed of working a fireworks stand," he explained.
It's the fifth year selling fireworks for Holmes and for Frances, a fellow volunteer who declined to give her last name. They both volunteer at the booth located at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Cedar Street, for the Moses Lake Sand Scorpions. Holmes said it's the main reason he joined the Sand Scorpions.
Other Moses Lake groups volunteer at the other Discount Fireworks booths located in Moses Lake. The groups operating the booths share profits with the Discount Fireworks owner, Frances said.
Volunteers are usually given a demonstration of the fireworks before the booths open, Frances said, the better to answer questions from customers like, "What does that one do?"
"Usually, I say, 'Well, you put it on your patio and it shoots up sparks and goes boom boom,' or 'It shoots way up in the air, goes bang and it's fantastic!'" she said.
The booths are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. beginning June 28. Frances said that's because city law won't allow booths to open before that day, and if the booth sells out the night of July 4, they won't re-open the next day, which is the day to buy two items for the price of one.
Customers are usually looking for fun, Frances said. They come and buy in droves, usually because they have family visiting.
"You've got to ask them, who is it going to be for?" Holmes shared. "Is it going to be for adults, is it going to be for kids. And then you go from there."
"Some of them want things that are medium high, and others want things that go up 20 feet in the air," Frances added.
"Some people want stuff that just sit on the ground and spin," Holmes agreed.
"And some people don't know what they want," Frances concluded. "They spend half an hour here walking up and down, looking at everything, and then they start asking questions. We've got nothing but time, so we just let them look and ask."
Holmes said his favorite firework is the bricks, which a person lights and they go on for four to five minutes. Frances prefers the Arsenal, which shoots 19 shots and each one is differently colored and goes in different directions.
"I just thought it was super, and it's the first year we've had this one," she said.
Before payday, business at the booth is sporadic, Frances said, noting that people always come in droves, never one-by-one. The same people come year after year, she noted.
"I love the kids," she said. "They come up, eyes this big: 'Daddy, daddy! I want some of those!'"
Holmes interjected, "Some of those kids are in their 40s."
Frances said that volunteer workers don't receive any special training, but utilize plain old good common sense, "which everybody who shoots off fireworks should use, whether they are 4 or 40."
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