Hi my name is Calcutta.... and I like to party

In my opinion one of the most overlooked things that happen around here on Memorial day weekend is the events that take place in Calcutta. It is a three day celebration that kicks off the summer months. Not only does it signify the start of summer it pays tribute to our fallen loved ones and highlights those that take care of our community. The Calcutta tourism board raises funds every year for the awesome fireworks show culminating a weekend full of other activities that take place all over the St. Clair area. In years past things have been added to the festivities that have made this time of year something special. This year is no exception with the events growing every year in size it is only gaining in popularity and events  each year.
Kicking off this year was a first ever 5k race benefiting the Beaver Local Hall Of Fame. The race start was at 9:00 am on this past Saturday. Dubbed the "Hall of Fame Hustle" it was a 5k run / walk starting at the Beaver Local middle school and running an out and back loop towards the state park. Well over 125 people participated in the event. Not too shabby for a first time run. Races are tricky things to establish but this one seems to hold a lot of promise in the years to come. The event had different sponsor tents and a D J and musician set up for the pre and post race. The race was emceed by Randy Schneider long time volunteer for the Calcutta area.

The main attraction for the weekend's events has to be the fireman's water battle. This event involves almost every local fire department in our area. It has been a staple for Calcutta over the past years. The Calcutta volunteer fire department puts it on. They work the day before they start by setting up the water course which involves two towers roughly 100 feet apart connected with a steel cable. An aluminum keg with a connecting trolley is threaded on it. The fire fighters form three man teams at each end and try to move the mobile keg across the cable. Whoever blasts the keg with water across the other teams end wins. It is a best of three tries and single elimination. Any department can field as many teams as they want to. My guess is there were at least 25 different teams this year. Every year it gets bigger and better. I can not say enough about the Calcutta volunteer department. Everyone of these guys started at around 6 am that morning setting up the contest area. Not only did they host the contest they provided food and drinks to all the teams. The menu was quite large also. Many of these guys helped other groups as well that were involved with the different organizations that had concessions there. They are like a big family and are always doing whatever they can for the community. Every department brought their trucks to display to the public making for an interesting walk through and up close look at the equipment. Most of these guys put in a 16 hr day yesterday.

A moment of silence and a word of prayer before the competition began. 

Orange keg used in the competition. 

     Angela Mushwick from the Calcutta fire department helps suit up a youngster for the kids water battle.

I thought it would be cool to take a look behind the scenes at everything that goes into the set up of the fireworks show. Every year it seems that the fireworks get longer and better. The company used to put on the show since the beginning is Pyrotecnico from New Castle PA. A fairly large company with several teams of detonation crews that set up and perform shows all over the tri state area. Their biggest show is the one during the fourth of July in Toronto Ohio and several shows around Pittsburgh. They do make some of their own fireworks up in New Castle but the majority of them are manufactured over seas and shipped here. Most of the biggest mortars are made by them though. The cost of these shows are very expensive. The fireworks alone are pricey and the equipment used to fire them is hi tech and costly. They are not running around lighting fuses in the dark anymore. Everything is electronically wired and synchronized by computer. The program alone is a small fortune but can sync music and the sequence of mortars being fired at countless variables. They can even add custom made shells or change parts of the show hours before it starts. The program and computers used to run these shows cost around forty thousand dollars.  Every shell is wired in a group to it's own firing pod and then wired to the main computer. Below are some pictures of the set up in the afternoon the day of the show.  

Every cannon is nailed together and stabilized to prevent it from tipping over.

Workers wire groups of shells. Each box of mortal shells is labeled and numbered to the layout on the firing grid.

       There were three different stages of cannons used for our show. Some further away for the grand finale. 

                                 This was one of the smaller shells used. Notice how they were numbered.

                                                                  One of the group firing controllers.

      Second in command is Jon Wilson. He took time from setting up to explain each step in the process. I                       can say that he loves his job and is into what he is doing.

                      The main computer that controls the rest of the firing group computers.

                                   Each mortar is loaded top side and fired with a half a volt charge.

   Jon Yerkey doing an inspection for the Calcutta fire department. Behind him is R J Stewart the 1st in command for Pyrotecnica.

Nick Young Ran me up the ladder truck for a birds eye view of Calcutta. It reaches a height of around 85 feet and can rotate a full 360°. They have used this truck extended up all the way recently to fight a tire warehouse fire. Firefighters spent around 5 or 6 hours in the the bucket pumping water on the flames. The truck has a pump system that pumps the water that high through a hose inside the boom.

A big thank you to the Calcutta Fire Department for letting me tag along and photograph these events.

Many more photos can be seen of the car show and activities of the weekend at: 
Calcutta Memorial Day Celebration