By Terry Witt- Spotlight Senior Reporter
Bronson Mayor Robert Partin reluctantly made a decision to cancel tonight’s July 4th fireworks display at James H. Cobb Park due to rain, lightning and a power outage.
Partin also cancelled a planned ceremony at 7 p.m. to honor the founder of the park, Robbie Blake, and her original board members Ada Marie Keeton, Edith Brown, Nancy Bell and Harriet Wilson.
The fireworks display is cancelled for this year. The ceremony honoring Blake and board has been rescheduled for Monday, July 15 at the Bronson Town Council’s regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m.
Partin was standing in the doorway of the classroom building watching radar on his phone and occasionally looking at the lightning in the sky and the rain falling when he asked Fire Chief Dennis Russell if they should cancel.
Russell said he couldn’t bring 13 firefighters together again to handle the fireworks over the weekend. Firefighters had set aside time on July 4th to set off the municipal fireworks show, but some were going out of town for the weekend and Russell said he would have been shorthanded if they performed the show on Friday or the weekend.
Just then, a powerful lightning strike hit just west of the park.
The festivities were cancelled.
The vendors who set up at the park tore down their tents. The park was basically empty at that point anyway except for town staff, sheriff’s deputies, Blake and Brown. They were there to be honored. The crowd that usually gathers in advance of the fireworks display had stayed home in the stormy weather.
The plan had been to turn off the lights in the park when the fireworks started at 9 p.m., but without power, fireworks watchers would have been left in the dark when it was time to go to their cars, resulting in safety issues.
The forecast indicated a 99 percent chance of rain at 9 p.m.
Town of Bronson Posted July 4, 2019
