Jim Thorpe fireworks show will go on
The show, including the fireworks, will go on this year at the Jim Thorpe Stay at Home Festival, but it will take some help to get there.
Held each year on the first Saturday in July, the festival’s popular fireworks show was in danger after longtime sponsor Mauch Chunk Trust Company said it would “pursue additional community investment and support opportunities,” essentially diverting its funds to other endeavors.Keith McQuait, commander of the Jim Thorpe American Legion Post 304, which organizes the event, said, “After many wonderful years of the Mauch Chunk Trust Company being the primary sponsor of the fireworks, they have decided to reduce their contribution and donate only a portion of the total cost of the fireworks.”McQuait said, “Our ability to continue to put on this festival and have fireworks now and in the future relies heavily on fundraising. Without sponsorship and/or donations, the ability for us to continue to host this wonderful community Independence Day celebration will become a thing of the past.”Mauch Chunk Trust Company is contributing $2,500 to the 2017 event.In addition the Mauch Chunk Trust Company, the American Legion Post 304, Sons of the American Legion Post 304 and American Legion Auxiliary Post 304 have contributed to the cost of the fireworks.“Mike Bixler of Bixler Pyrotechnics in Ashland has reached out to us and said he would be willing to do the fireworks on a progressive cost structure,” McQuait said in an email. “We can lock in at a much lower cost. The more money we raise, the better the display will be. The minimum we need to have the fireworks is $5,000. Around $10,000 will get us a really good show.”Volunteers are needed to help at the festival. The legion is also asking nonprofit organizations to have stands at the event.Food stands are $175 per stand. Those groups wishing to sell nonalcoholic beverages must pay an additional $35. Games/amusement rides/miscellaneous sales are $100 per ride/stand. Arts and crafts vendors will pay $35.“American Legion membership is dwindling to all-time lows,” McQuait said. “At the same time, anyone who has served in the military since 1991 is eligible to join. This is the longest wartime eligibility period in history. In theory, there are more veterans eligible to join the American Legion today than at any other time in history. The younger generations are just not joining up and volunteering. They just don’t know or just don’t care. It’s hard to say exactly what it is. In any case we desperately need them to get involved or the American Legion will cease to exist.”Start the showThe legion will raffle off a chance for someone to push the button to start the fireworks show. The festival will run July 1 from 3-10 p.m. with fun, food, games and rides planned in addition to the fireworks, which are scheduled to go off at 10 p.m.At noon, there will be a three-on-three basketball tournament. Kids games include a pie eating contest, watermelon seed contest, potato sack races, water relay, peanut scramble and more. Bands, which all legion members, include Abandoned Mind, Nightwind and Blunt and are sponsored by Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank.“We are so grateful for both banks contributing to this festival because without them, this event is a dead duck,” McQuait said.Admission is free and there will be food and beverages for sale. A decision on any cost for parking in the Memorial Park lot has yet to be made. All of the proceeds collected by the American Legion go to defer the cost of the festival, support the troops, and children and youth programs in Carbon County.Costs to the Legion for the festival include $900 to rent the park. In the past, the Legion has repaired appliances at the facility or brought its own, and spent over $1,000 on electrical items, among other expenses.Any individual or company interested in sponsoring or donating to the fireworks or the event can send an email to
admin@djmlegion.com or call 570-778-8867.Donations can be mailed to:The American Legion Post 304, Attn: Festival Committee, 20 W. 6th St., Jim Thorpe, PA 18229.For more information, visit the festival’s website at