Memorial and Variety Photo Page

MEMORIAL AND VARIETY PHOTO PAGE

MEMORIALS

These men enriched the lives of many fireworks lovers, including myself. They are all deceased now but shall not be forgotten. Their contributions should be remembered. This memorial to them seeks to do exactly that. Did you ever meet these fellows? I bet if you did, you never forget their faces and accomplishments.

Max P. VanderHorck, known as Van to his friends, published APFN Newsletter and was largely responsible for suggesting the forming of a national pyrotechnic group which became the PGI. Taken at the '74 PGI convention. Jimmy Grucci, one of the few professionals willing to come to the 1974 PGI convention and teach us how to work with display fireworks. Part of the famous Grucci family. Bill Withrow, the shell maker who taught me and a number of other people how to build display shells. Photo taken during a multi-break seminar at the 1975 PGI convention.

Jerry G. Taylor was a shell maker par excellence. He was famous for large multi-break shells and his special "four breaks of chlorate silver" is the finest bright shell I have ever witnessed. Jerry died July 7, 1998. This photo was taken by your host at the 1974 PGI convention in Grand Haven/Spring Lake, Michigan. This is one of Jerry Taylor's three break shells made in a traditional Italian style, a monument to his shell making ability. His shells were magnificent and anyone who had the pleasure of experiencing some of them will know that a marvelous pyrotechnic artist has gone on to provide celestial fireworks for the higher heavens.

George Amabilino died November 27, 1999. He was a true friend of fireworks in England and was famous for some huge back garden firework displays at his home. He was the only firework expert (a description he would be quick to deny) to sit on the expert panel of judges for both major British firework competitions: The British Firework Championships at Plymouth and the British Musical Firework Championships at Southport. George Amabilino was one of Britain’s best-known and best-loved firework characters. He was a member of the team which produces Britain’s only firework periodical – Fireworks, and his sons are all now associated in varying degrees with the firework industry – one owning his own company.
Photo by Barry Sturman, used with permission.

Celestino Foti Foti Intl. Fireworks Died June 18, 2001
Celestino was one of the few people in the world who could genuinely be classed a Master Pyrotechnician. Having spent all his life making and displaying fireworks, it was his love of fireworks that defined him the most. Being a pyrotechnician was not just what he did for work, it was who he was, and what he was. Apart from his unique shells, the set piece fireworks he made and developed were, in the words of various experts, among the best in the world.
Celestino's proudest pyrotechnic moments included winning the Stockholm Water Festival International Fireworks Competition in 1993 (the first competition the company had ever entered in), his family's contribution to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and displaying on Sydney Harbour Bridge. Although Celestino was proud of the international acclaim the company achieved, his proudest moments also included the small displays the company did for various Italian community events. Celestino was a proud Australian who was equally as proud of his Italian heritage.
Three weeks before his death Celestino broke his hip. He died due to complications from the subsequent surgery. Until that time, he arrived at work every day to do what he loved- making fireworks, which he still did with both pride and passion. As a pyrotechnician friend wrote upon hearing of his death, "...Celestino was probably the oldest active, living firework man in the world". He was 88 years old.
I wish to thank Foti's International Fireworks for the photo and background material I used, with their permission.

VARIETY PHOTOS

Just a few of the American and Chinese consumer fireworks available in Texas.

Here is a 24 inch (600 mm) diameter aerial display shell. Soon after being received, there always seemed to be a lot of autographs appear on the outside casing of the huge shell.

Your host just had to have a picture with a 16 inch (400 mm) shell. It's something to really look forward to seeing in the sky this year. One of the statements on the instruction sheet for this shell says "This product is not intended for sale to the general public." There's NO chance of that.

The Texas 500 NASCAR race April 5, 1998. I was part of the crew that did a daylight fireworks display as part of the opening ceremony. Note the mortars were color-matched to the grass for camouflage. It's now an annual event I look forward to very much.

Ah, the good old days. Probably the most signature display item made in America was, and still is, the multi-break shell. These explode in different colors and effects, one after the other. The shells shown produce a break of red then white then blue. I rarely see multi-breaks in displays any more but they still have their place. Please, American manufacturers, don't abandon the manufacture of these American beauties entirely.

For those too young to have ever seen multi-break shells, here are some examples. The left 4-break shell exploded in red, then green, then gold and ended with a loud bang, the white circle at the bottom. On the right a 3-break shell of silver, then blue and that loud bang salute.

Ah, the good good old days number 2, when we fired plenty of multi-break shells, and many of the fancy ball shells had plenty of ascending effects that fired on the way up, before the main shell did its magic. Did I really ever have that much dark hair?


Max P. VanderHorck, known as Van to his friends, published APFN Newsletter and was largely responsible for suggesting the forming of a national pyrotechnic group which became the PGI. Taken at the '74 PGI convention.	Jimmy Grucci, one of the few professionals willing to come to the 1974 PGI convention and teach us how to work with display fireworks. Part of the famous Grucci family.	Bill Withrow, the shell maker who taught me and a number of other people how to build display shells. Photo taken during a multi-break seminar at the 1975 PGI convention.


Jerry G. Taylor was a shell maker par excellence. He was famous for large multi-break shells and his special "four breaks of chlorate silver" is the finest bright shell I have ever witnessed. Jerry died July 7, 1998. This photo was taken by your host at the 1974 PGI convention in Grand Haven/Spring Lake, Michigan.	This is one of Jerry Taylor's three break shells made in a traditional Italian style, a monument to his shell making ability. His shells were magnificent and anyone who had the pleasure of experiencing some of them will know that a marvelous pyrotechnic artist has gone on to provide celestial fireworks for the higher heavens.

	Just a few of the American and Chinese consumer fireworks available in Texas.
	Here is a 24 inch (600 mm) diameter aerial display shell. Soon after being received, there always seemed to be a lot of autographs appear on the outside casing of the huge shell.
	Your host just had to have a picture with a 16 inch (400 mm) shell. It's something to really look forward to seeing in the sky this year. One of the statements on the instruction sheet for this shell says "This product is not intended for sale to the general public." There's NO chance of that.
	The Texas 500 NASCAR race April 5, 1998. I was part of the crew that did a daylight fireworks display as part of the opening ceremony. Note the mortars were color-matched to the grass for camouflage. It's now an annual event I look forward to very much.
	Ah, the good old days. Probably the most signature display item made in America was, and still is, the multi-break shell. These explode in different colors and effects, one after the other. The shells shown produce a break of red then white then blue. I rarely see multi-breaks in displays any more but they still have their place. Please, American manufacturers, don't abandon the manufacture of these American beauties entirely.
	For those too young to have ever seen multi-break shells, here are some examples. The left 4-break shell exploded in red, then green, then gold and ended with a loud bang, the white circle at the bottom. On the right a 3-break shell of silver, then blue and that loud bang salute.
	Ah, the good good old days number 2, when we fired plenty of multi-break shells, and many of the fancy ball shells had plenty of ascending effects that fired on the way up, before the main shell did its magic. Did I really ever have that much dark hair?