by Joseph Back

There are ordinances, and then there is ordnance. The two are best left unconfused, though for safety reasons the one (ordnance) is often governed by the other (ordinances), at least within cities, villages, and possibly towns.

As it happened, there were no fireworks ordnance of questionable legality prior to the officially sanctioned show July 8 in Boyd, though kickball, a dunk tank, and lots of food was on hand.

With ice cream costing $2.50 while Laffy Taffy was 25 cents and a food basket $4.00, Boyd village residents who turned out for the show Thursday were in for a treat, with fireworks letting off one to three smoke bursts prior to sunset as a test and the show starting after nine, with the ball park lights being dimmed in preparation.

“We could have started an hour ago if the

See FOOD AND FUN, Page 2

Coach Kyle Hera (dunk tank) was among at least two coaches who offered themselves for a good cause as Ryan Benson (foreground) took aim at the red button to release a seat lever and send the dunk tank’s seat occupant into the water. Staff photo.

FROM PAGE 1 lights were turned off,” one village resident was overheard to say, while one group of kids on the west side got impatient.

“Fireworks. Fireworks. Fireworks,” they called out, with Kenny Gerrits of the Boyd Chamber along with the Boyd-Edson-Delmar Fire Department doing the leg work from behind the ball field fence near the Fire Station. Before long, the show began!

The tree did not catch on fire—we trust that has been made clear with photos. At the same time, there were some sparks that reached (or almost reached) the ground towards the end, bringing home the reason for ordinances on ordnance: only the qualified or those with permit, need apply.

Before it was over, the night saw blue, orange, green, red, and then some, with colors determined as follows, according to the U.S. Geological Survey as usgs.gov: Barium makes for bright green Strontium burns red Copper is the blue kind Sodium yields yellow.

And so on and so forth. In the meantime, never mix pure sodium with water— it’s explosive. Use of a proper binding agent to make a salt (as in stores), can keep things safe as the chemistry reacts. Speaking of which, titanium, zirconium and magnesium alloys “make silvery white,” per the USGS. Who knew?