Fire departments to host 24th annual fireworks show

Ted Warnet and Bernie Nangle, of the Highland Lakes and Vernon Volunteer Fire Departments, set out on a journey around 24 years ago to honor veterans, bless the community, and fund raise to pay for general expenses in their respective fire houses.
Warnet previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
This year marks their 24th annual Fourth of July Fireworks Show, July 6, put on by the two volunteer fire companies. Co-chairs Warnet and Nangle wanted to get the word out that the fireworks show is, and always has been, sponsored by the two fire departments — not the town.
Nangle said, as volunteer organizations, which own their own property and buildings — while the town owns the trucks and gives some money — they regularly do fund raisers to help pay operating expenses.
The fireworks show gate sales pay for the fireworks, Warnet explained, and the two companies then split the concession stand profits in half. He added, the fireworks show grew over the years, because more people paid at the gate.
This year, Warnet said, they will feature a food truck festival, beginning at 5 p.m., along with live DJ music and activities for the kids.
PAL provides their big slide, he said, and the Police Department has been “a huge, huge help,” with additional police for crowd control and traffic.
Warnet said the Vernon and Pochuck Ambulance squads have always been there — just in case someone needs help.
He added, Roman, from Dairy Swirl, has been selling ice cream at the show for years.
Additionally, for the first time this year, they are asking for corporate sponsors, Warnet said, and they will recognize businesses by putting up a banner.
He said, “The school board and town are very supportive. They do a resolution every year.”
Nangle said about the volunteer firemen, “These guys are truly the heroes of the town.” They work full-time jobs, he said, take care of their families, and when those sirens sound, they jump into anybody’s building to save anybody’s life. He added, “That’s just what they do. It’s in their blood.”
The overall mission, he said, has been to give the community a special event. In addition to it being a fundraiser, he added, his guys love the event and look forward to it.
Nangle said without the Highland Lakes and Vernon Fire Department members, the fireworks show would not have happened. He said the volunteer work does not end until about two o’clock in the morning, when they come back to the Vernon Fire House to reminisce.
Originally, Warnet brought the fundraising fireworks idea from the Wyckoff Company #2 Fire Department, of which his dad is still a member. He said, the first show on the flats was “very nerve wracking,” because they needed people to show up, and all of a sudden, the cars started showing up.
He said he remembers how ten minutes into their very first fireworks show, the finale took off, and he and Nangle thought they were in trouble. However, the Garden State Fireworks Company built another finale out of other shells. He said it was such a hit, the company started featuring beginning, mid-show, and end finales.
Warnet said, he will never forget, when he went up to the firehouse after the first show — the guys' applauded. At that point, he said, his legs just collapsed because he was so scared.
Around 2005, Warnet said, they moved the show to Lounsberry Hollow School on Sammis Road, because the flats were flooded. He said, it was almost as if the school was designed for the fireworks — with ground tapering down, going up on an angle, and leveling off on the top.
Moving it, he said, was another scary time. Warnet said, “The police department, God bless them,” brought out traffic signs saying the show was being moved; the radio station, WSUS, and other local stations announced the location change.
Warnet said his favorite part is when all the people are there, and he gets to walk through the crowd and see everyone from town. He said the best part is when people come up and say they used to watch the show as a kid, and now they bring their kids.
Over the last couple of years, he said, he has gotten to know the guys who shoot the shells, and they let him shoot one off. The first time, he said, he lit it, turned, and walked a couple of steps – Boom! He said, Nangle laughed hysterically, because he must have jumped; “It is so loud when the shell takes off.”
In retrospect, he said, “It’s been a great run all these years.”