Each year, county communities undertake the massive effort of organizing fireworks for the 4th of July, undeterred by everything from finances to Mother Nature.

“It’s a lot,” said Patty Tumminello-Murphy, president of the Evans City Lions Club.

Responsible for organizing the borough’s fireworks display, the Evans City Lions Club was one of three organizations that made the tough decision to reschedule community fireworks this week.

The Evans City Lions Club, Mars and West Sunbury Boroughs were all forced to reschedule due to inclement weather.

Tumminello-Murphy said the club went with their pyrotechnician’s recommendation Sunday morning to postpone its July 2 show.

“We let him, of course, make the call,” Tumminello-Murphy said. “The weather bureau was calling for a storm around 7 p.m. and again around 9 p.m."

She said the pyrotechnician would have needed to pick up the fireworks the day of, spend approximately four hours setting up the show, set them off and clean up — all while fighting high winds and heavy rain.

“So he said he felt more comfortable calling it and then doing it on the Fourth, which was going to have much better weather,” Tumminello-Murphy said. “I was more than happy to go with his recommendation.”

Now moved to Independence Day at dusk, the event was originally planned to coincide with a night swim July 2 at EDCO Park and Pool. While the swim did continue Sunday night, event coordinator Ronny Royhab said the pool has organized a second night swim for the rescheduled fireworks.

“(Sunday,) we probably had 150 people come in; last year we probably had 300 with good weather,” Royhab said. “So, hopefully (Wednesday) night we’re going to get a lot of people down here to watch some fireworks and have fun.”

Tables and tents can be rented for the event by texting (724) 814-6987 and games will be available to play, according to Royhab. The night swim is open to the public and will run from 6 to 10 p.m. — with fireworks starting around 9 p.m.

“I think it’s a great show,” Tumminello-Murphy said. “Everybody has a lot of fun, and just come and enjoy.”

As storms continued in the county July 3, both West Sunbury’s American Legion and Mars delayed Monday’s fireworks until this weekend.

“Obviously, an outdoor event, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature,” said Bonnie Forsythe, Mars secretary. “You can plan for most things and hope for the best, but, you know, sometimes Mother Nature wins.”

Both communities’ events were postponed after their pyrotechnic company — Kellner Fireworks — advised them of severe thunderstorms threatening the evening’s displays.

“He was point-blank with me: he said, ‘If you want, I will come down, we will load them up, but the weather does not look good — you know, it’s a shame that you would waste these rounds,’” said Gary Fitzingo, organizer and finance officer at the American Legion. “’If they would not go off — some will, some won’t — that just doesn’t make a good show.’”

Fitzingo said fireworks in West Sunbury would be postponed until Friday, July 7. Mars Mayor Gregg Hartung said their display would move to Saturday, July 8.

Given the $11,000 cost of the display, Hartung said holding it off for a day with better weather would allow more people in the community to enjoy it.

“We’d rather try and, hopefully, cross our fingers that Saturday will be better with even more people out,” Hartung said. “It just makes better sense.”

As one of Kellner’s “big spenders,” at $17,500, Fitzingo agreed.

And those costs remain persistent challenges for community displays, with both Fitzingo and Hartung saying that prices have risen considerably since the end of the pandemic due to understaffing.

“And the cost of products going up for them to put fireworks together,” Hartung said. “It was a combination of more cost for putting fireworks together and not having enough staff to handle the Fourth of July — because everyone wants it for the Fourth of July.”

Since last year, Hartung said costs for a July 4 display have increased by nearly $5,000 — leading the borough to work with Kellner this year and schedule its fireworks for July 3.

“$11,000 is doable, $15- or $17,000 is out of our range, at least this year,” Hartung said. “And we already had our letters out to our sponsors, we try to make them aware of the increased cost because some of the sponsors are locked into what they can contribute too.”

Thanks to Fitzingo’s longstanding relationship with Kellner, he said said the group has managed to maintain its annual cost for the last four years.

“We’re one of the big ones, you know, they told us we’re one of the big spenders on this show,” Fitzingo said. “And we always look at: it’s really for the kids.”

Evans City Lion’s Club’s firework display will run for approximately a half-hour on the Fourth of July, according to Tumminello-Murphy, launched from the Evans City Cemetery.

“A lot of people go to EDCO park, but if you can see the cell tower on the hill near the cemetery, then you can see our fireworks,” Tumminello-Murphy said.

Mars Borough’s display will start between 9:30 and 10 p.m. July 8, accompanied by music broadcast on 88.1 FM.

“Fireworks are set off on the east side of town, on Reservoir Hill,” Forsythe said. “A lot of people watch from the St. John’s Lutheran Care Center parking lot, some watch from behind the Mar’s Bank, other people literally just watch from wherever they find a convenient spot.”

The borough also hosted the Mars July 4 Celebration from noon to 4 p.m Tuesday, featuring around 20 food, drink and artisan vendors and live music.

At 3 p.m., the borough’s Fourth of July parade will begin on Beaver Street.

“The parade will come down Beaver Street to Pittsburgh Street and then it will go on to Irvine Street,” Forsythe said. “And then it will make a left-hand turn onto Grand Avenue.”

The West Sunbury American Legion firework display will begin at approximately 9:30 p.m. July 7, with Fitzingo advising visitors to find a spot early.

“The people just love it, they are parked up there into cemetery, on the hill, they’ll have little cookouts there, ... they come down where the little baseball fields are at there — if they’re early enough to get in,” Fitzingo said. “They just love it, I mean, they blow their horns and they yell and they whistle when they go off.”

Launched from behind the West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department, Fitzingo recommended viewing the display from the West Sunbury Union Cemetery or Athletic Park.

“All you need to do is bring a chair with you,” Fitzingo said.