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For Rigoli, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran, the attraction to fireworks is simple.
“(It’s) the only way I can blow (stuff) up without getting arrested,” he said, during an interview Wednesday at their workshop in Rumney, N.H.
On the other hand, Larchar, 71, could take or leave the adrenaline rush, she said. An organist, oboist and singer, Larchar enjoys the thrill of designing a beautiful show that fits together like a musical composition.
Viewers leave a good display — one with an engaging rhythm, vibrant colors and interesting shapes — with a sense of hope and encouragement, she said.
Tearing up, she said a fireworks display is “a celebration of the sacrifices made by so many.”
Rigoli and Larchar are two of many pyrotechnicians who will be hard at work this weekend filling the sky with sound, light and color in honor of the country’s independence.
This weekend, Hell’s Gate has three shows lined up: Private shows are slated for tonight and tomorrow night; on Monday, they are set to shoot the Woodsville-Wells River show at around 9 p.m.
Rigoli has been shooting fireworks for 27 years and Larchar for about 17. The two formed their company in 2010. Since then, the number of displays they put on each year has grown from four to 26.
Rigoli’s enjoyment of his work was not diminished by an accident during the shoot at the North Haverhill Fair last year.
During the shoot, Rigoli lit the fuse of a fireworks cake — a collection of several tubes containing pyrotechnics — that turned out to be faulty; it exploded in his face. He was wearing safety goggles at the time, but the explosion struck his mouth, knocking out his false teeth and blackening and bloodying his face.
Larchar heard the defective cake go off, saw Rigoli fall to the ground and feared he was dead. She asked him if he was OK and he responded, “Keep lighting!”
He stood up, wrapped his face in a sweatshirt and helped finish the shoot before taking an ambulance to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
He later had surgery, which left a scar running from his mouth to his chin. He no longer has teeth, but it isn’t a big blow to his vanity. As he says, his stripping days are over.
“No pain, no gain,” Rigoli said.
The success of the weekend’s shows is key to the company’s bottom line.
“If we make it through this weekend, we’ve made it,” Rigoli said.
Woodsville-Wells River Fourth of July events will include a parade at 11 a.m. The parade failed to cross state lines last year, because of a signage mishap, but organizers say they are working with officials to ensure this year’s will.
For many viewers, the displays are simply one part of their Independence Day celebrations, but for fireworks companies the shows mark the culmination of months of hard work. From ordering the materials to designing the programs, training technicians and obtaining the necessary permits, the work of preparing displays of color and sound is no easy task.
At least one Upper Valley community shared in this early preparation. Northstar Fireworks put on a series of free fireworks shows in Lebanon this spring in order to train technicians, said Paul Coats, the city’s director of Recreation and Parks.
The East Montpelier, Vt.-based company needed to train more technicians because demand for their shows in New Hampshire is growing, Coats said.
The series initially surprised the community, Coats said, “but once we explained that they weren’t costing the city any money, and they seemed like a good way to break the monotony of winter, people seemed to appreciate that we had them,” he said in an email.
Northstar Fireworks could not be reached for comment this week.
Initial public criticism of the decision to allow the company to shoot fireworks from Glenwood Cemetery next to Storrs Hill Ski Area, forced Northstar to relocate the remaining shows to Tomapo Farm on Storrs Hill Road, Coats said.
Northstar is set to launch Lebanon’s Fourth of July fireworks display on Monday at 9:25 p.m. from Tomapo Farm.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
