Fireworks light up the sky on Fourth of July
Association seeks more fireworks enthusiasts
Hailee Miller builds a shell Thursday for a Mum Pyrotechnics fireworks display. The ingredients and how they are packed determines the type of display.
Derrick Miller inserts a loaded shell into a machine that will enclose it in a moist wrap before it undergoes a drying process.
Hailee Miller builds a shell Thursday for a Mum Pyrotechnics fireworks display. The ingredients and how they are packed determines the type of display.
Derrick Miller inserts a loaded shell into a machine that will enclose it in a moist wrap before it undergoes a drying process.
Trending
SAWYER - Mum Pyrotechnics will be bringing new visual effects to its annual fireworks display at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds on Tuesday night.
The show is scheduled following the car races, no sooner than 10:45 p.m.
Derrick Miller, a partner in Mum Pyrotechnics, Sawyer, said the show will bring "all kinds of effects that we've never done before and a lot of people won't have seen before."
Thanks to access to additional equipment and technology, the company has expanded its options for creating fireworks. Miller said options to lower the viewing range, create a fanning appearance and shoot cross-over comets allow for new effects.
Derrick Miller's daughter, Hailee Miller, has been working for a couple of months to select the music and choreograph the fireworks. She said the family-friendly show will feature popular songs with catchy, distinct beats, including some patriotic songs. Viewers not at the grandstand can tune into FM 90.1.
Working with choreography about seven years, Hailee Miller, 21, now is the primary choreographer behind the Mum Pyrotechnic shows. Her choreography directs the type of fireworks that the organization builds for the shows.
Mum Pyrotechnics partner Dr. Wayne Jansen is the organization's chemist. He develops the formulas for producing the effects that Miller's choreography requires.
Mum Pyrotechnics put on a show Friday at Minot Air Force Base and another will be presented at Lake Metigoshe on Monday at 10:45 p.m.
Minot's Fourth of July show, estimated at 25 minutes, is by far the largest of the three July shows with about 1,200 individual firing points. Each firing point can have numerous shots that create the dazzling display.
Mum Pyrotechnics depends on its volunteer base of hobbyists. A handful of core volunteers and several others who assist when they can have been helping with the assembly of the fireworks. Due to limited assistance, the organization has had to purchase some readymade fireworks for its shows.
"Back when we first started, we didn't use anything imported. It was 100 percent hand-built," said Derrick Miller, who started in 2008 with previous partners. "As years have gone on, we've lost members."
To reduce the need for readymade fireworks, Mum Pyrotechnics and the Minot Fireworks Association are looking to grow the number of local enthusiasts who want to learn the craft of building fireworks and setting up displays.
"We need people who really love fireworks," said Miller, who indicated 10 to 15 dedicated people could make a real difference. People can inquire about joining the association at minotfireworks.com.
Corey Long, president of the association, said the group's effort to recruit more interested individuals could help grow the size of fireworks displays in the Minot area. The association, which is open to anyone, also heads up fundraising for Minot's Fourth of July displays. Because of volunteer labor, a show can be produced at considerably less cost, said Long, who is himself a volunteer fireworks builder.
"I just love fireworks and I love doing a service to my community, to bring this to the community," he said.
Building fireworks is time-consuming, requiring hundreds of hours to produce the colored explosives needed for a typical fireworks display. Mum Pyrotechnics also produces many of its own construction materials, such as creating charcoal for fuel from burned and crushed local willow tree branches.
"The process of getting all of the materials takes so much time. It's going to take the same amount of time every single time you do it," Hailee Miller said. "But assembly speeds up exponentially when you get more people."
"Everybody out here gets trained on how to actually assemble the shells, put them together," Derrick Miller said. "I try to teach much of the physical aspect of it - assembly and theory of why all this stuff does what it does."
After teaching informally at the national conventions of the Pyrotechnics Guild International, Mum Pyrotechnics began offering official classes at the convention in 2017. Over five days in August this year, Mum Pyrotechnics will train 75 participants in building fireworks at the convention in Wisconsin.
Also, once July Fourth has passed, Mum Pyrotechnics will be building a show of 1,200 to 1,500 cues (firing points) for a guild convention display. The guild has requested the show since Mum Pyrotechnics first put it on in 2021 to accompany the National Anthem, and the show has grown in size each year.