Published: August 13, 2009 11:24 pm      

Georges Creek fireworks hinge on cash bash event

LONACONING — Mike Staup, chairman of the Georges Creek Fireworks Committee, said he will know by Aug. 24 whether the valley’s skies will light up with pyrotechnics on or around the Fourth of July 2010.

“If we don’t sell all of our cash bash tickets by Aug. 24, we cancel that event, and it is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Staup said. “We’re desperate.”

The committee has put on the fireworks for four years. “This July we had 5,000 to 6,000 people there,” Staup said.

The cash bash, which will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Barton Fire Hall on Sept. 5, brings in $10,000 of the $13,000 needed to buy the fireworks display. All prizes are cash with the top prize being $1,500 drawn at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $25 and just 500 are sold.

“We need people to sell tickets and people who will buy tickets,” Staup said. Call (301) 707-4220 or (301) 463-3570 to do either or stop by the Barton Fire Hall.

A cash bash ticket includes not only a chance to win money, but food and drink as well. Doors open at 1 p.m. on the day of the bash. A ticket holder’s presence is not required to win.

“Our fireworks are comparable to those in Cumberland or Keyser. In fact, we had people from both those towns attend the 2009 fireworks,” Staup said. The event takes place at the athletic field of Westmar Middle School.

The committee’s Aug. 24 meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Lonaconing Town Building.From staff reports