Meet the man behind the magic of Red, White & BOOM!
COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH)– Have you ever wondered why Red, White & BOOM! seems to be twice as loud as other fireworks shows? It’s because it is.
“The way [the buildings are designed] at the Huntington plaza and COSI, if you’re sitting downtown you get the reverberation, being outside feels even stronger than just the shell going off because you get a reverberation up all the buildings echoing, so it’s even twice as loud,” said fireworks site manager Earl Burke.
Burke has been with Red, White & BOOM! for 37 years. He knows the event backwards and forwards. He is the go-to man with all of the answers, as evident with his phone going off nonstop leading up to Wednesday’s big show.
“I don’t brag about it, but it’s kind of nice being the person who’s been putting this thing together all these years,” Burke said. “Seeing how it’s grown from being real small to the size it is now, and of course, as we go along who knows how big we’ll eventually make this show. It’s a sense of ownership that I could put something together, work with a great crew people, and then make the whole thing come out with pizzazz.”
Earl’s TOP SPOTS for watching Red, White & BOOM!:
- Civic Center Drive
- Bicentennial Park
- North Bank Park
- Vet’s Memorial
- Scioto Peninsula Park