By Darcy Ellis
Editor

7-26-2008

It looks like the Bishop community has saved its most treasured July 4 tradition after all.
Digging deep and pitching in whatever and however they were able, residents, visitors and several business helped raise enough money for Bishop volunteer firefighters to not only recoup their costs for the Fourth of July fireworks show at the airport, but also come out ahead.
Slightly, but out of the red nevertheless.
“We should come out about $5,000 ahead,” said Assistant Chief Pat O’Neil, who noted that all the final numbers are still pending. “I don’t think we’re going to be in the hole. That was our main concern.”

Ending in debt was such a concern that the department and its volunteers – many of whom contribute funds out of pocket to help put on the fireworks display as a public service – were considering making the 2008 show their last.
According to Chief Ray Seguine, there was a time when the fireworks show was a fundraiser for the department, which charged spectators a per-car fee to gain entrance to the airport.
As the costs to stage the display skyrocketed and more and more spectators opted to view the show from vantage points outside the airport, the event became less of a fundraiser and more of something the department struggled to put on for the sake of those in the community who had come to depend on the local tradition.
The 2008 fireworks show cost $28,900 – a figure sure to rise in 2009 and which takes into account the usual suspects such as inflation and rising gas prices, Seguine explained.
True to form, the community, when notified the show was in danger of going the way of the dodo bird, stepped up to do the right thing.
Seguine said attendance at the airport was significantly higher this year, even with one of the main portions of normally available parking blocked off to accommodate an influx of airplanes.
According to O’Neil, car fees at the airport alone brought in $17,385 – up about $2,269 from 2007.
Then there were the thousands of dollars in donations – from businesses like Paiute Palace Casino, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Sierra Life Flight, Culver’s Sporting Goods, The Inyo Register, KIBS/KBOV Radio, Preferred Septic and Disposal, KSRW Radio, Norman Bird & Sons Construction and Community Printing – as well as fundraisers in which residents and visitors ended up pitching in more than $1,000 to the department’s fireworks fund.
Culver’s Sporting Goods helped out by holding an Eagle Claw fishing equipment raffle on July 6, which alone raised $750.
Five Bishop residents ended up that raffle: Zach McLaughlin (first); Mary Scronce (second); Jamery Ray (third); Fred Bennet (fourth); and Gary Milici (fifth).
The Inyo Register also helped by organizing a communitywide donation drive in which area businesses graciously placed cans in their stores and residents and visitors dropped in contributions if they planned on watching the July 4 show outside of the airport. The effort raised a total of $714.34.
Both Seguine and O’Neil offered their gratitude to all who helped the volunteers cover their costs this year, and indicated they would likely be needing additional support for the 2009 show.