Clear Lake knows how to celebrate the 4th of July with style! Our fireworks displays are top notch. They get bigger and better every year.
One year in particular, a spectacular show was planned. In 1976, the county’s bicentennial of declaring our independence from England, the “largest and loudest” display so far was ready to dazzle the crowds.
And the crowd was indeed awed! Shouts of “Oh!” and “Awe” could be heard echoing around the lakeshore. Until… About halfway through the show, a firework shell broke a hole through the barge.
The remaining fireworks were thrown into the lake – rapidly followed by the two men shooting them off on the barge.
Kevin remembers seeing the guys dive off the barge from his boat on the lake.
Doug was on a boat too and recalls thinking it was strange that some of the fireworks were shooting off sideways from the barge.
Abbie was working at Touristville that summer. She was worried for several days that a boat might run over an unexpolded shell near the marina.
David found a couple of the unspent rockets washed up on shore. He says that once they dried off they lit just fine.
(Don’t try that at home!)
Many thanks for this week’s Throwback goes to the members of Lost Clear Lakers for their memories of that eventful 4th.
The photo from 1950 is from the Clear Lake Public Library history collection.
The newspaper articles are from the Globe Gazette and the Des Moines Tribune.
