Fireworks 2001 Page 2

NEW MILLENNIUM FIREWORKS 2

The Pyrotechnics Artists of Texas club had their fall display October 20. The first portion of the display was a tribute to the United States, using all American made shells. It has been so long since I have held such American-made beauties as these. Besides this three-break red/white/blue to artillery to heavy report and the five timed reports, there were several dozen color and special shells such as nine timed reports, crossettes, strobes, red/white/blue, color and artillery, and many others.

Our Texas fireworks club held a two weekend multi-break shell seminar. Expert pyrotechnicians Benjamin Farrugia and Paul Schembri came from Malta, an island south of Italy, to teach these sessions. Club members met on licensed manufacturing premises to learn how Maltese pyrotechnicians make the huge shells that Malta is uniquely famous for. In this photo Ben and Paul prepare lift cups for some of those gigantic beauties.

Benjamin puts finishing paper on an eight inch diameter four-break shell that finished out weighing 70 pounds. (32 KG)

Your host with the completed four-break shell shown above. This is the first time I have handled a forty inch (1 meter) tall shell. Imagine the height of Maltese shells that have 9 to 11 breaks, or more. Malta has over forty groups of pyrotechnicians who make fireworks for their religious festivals there. A firework club in Malta may work an entire year to prepare the fireworks for a single spectacular display or small group of displays.

Some single and multi-break Maltese style shells produced during the seminar.
To see more photos of Maltese shells from a web site in Malta, click HERE.
To visit the Society of St. Mary and King George V Band club, an organization in Malta that uses this type of fireworks in their events, click HERE.

New Year's Eve 2001 gave my friends Jeff Geer, Byron Rimbey and I a chance to fire a private party firework display. We fired 44 mm shells, aerial cakes, cake fountains, a couple of rocket packs and some 1.4G "head bombs". No drinking for us, and I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year than fireworks.

A nice pair of triangular cake fountains from that party that had plenty of good color and bright effects.

	Our Texas fireworks club held a two weekend multi-break shell seminar. Expert pyrotechnicians Benjamin Farrugia and Paul Schembri came from Malta, an island south of Italy, to teach these sessions. Club members met on licensed manufacturing premises to learn how Maltese pyrotechnicians make the huge shells that Malta is uniquely famous for. In this photo Ben and Paul prepare lift cups for some of those gigantic beauties.
	Benjamin puts finishing paper on an eight inch diameter four-break shell that finished out weighing 70 pounds. (32 KG)
	Your host with the completed four-break shell shown above. This is the first time I have handled a forty inch (1 meter) tall shell. Imagine the height of Maltese shells that have 9 to 11 breaks, or more. Malta has over forty groups of pyrotechnicians who make fireworks for their religious festivals there. A firework club in Malta may work an entire year to prepare the fireworks for a single spectacular display or small group of displays.
	Some single and multi-break Maltese style shells produced during the seminar. To see more photos of Maltese shells from a web site in Malta, click HERE. To visit the Society of St. Mary and King George V Band club, an organization in Malta that uses this type of fireworks in their events, click HERE.

	New Year's Eve 2001 gave my friends Jeff Geer, Byron Rimbey and I a chance to fire a private party firework display. We fired 44 mm shells, aerial cakes, cake fountains, a couple of rocket packs and some 1.4G "head bombs". No drinking for us, and I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year than fireworks.
	A nice pair of triangular cake fountains from that party that had plenty of good color and bright effects.