Star Spangled Update from the Spirit 🇺🇸

Celebrating Springfield's Biggest, Best and Brightest!

It is time to come together to celebrate our country’s independence with a Star Spangled Springfield on July 4^th. I am looking forward to seeing Riverfront Park filled with people, excitement, live entertainment, and fireworks! It is what we have been waiting for.

We ask you to recognize the hundreds of people that are working on July 4^th for the safety and enjoyment of all in attendance. This includes the State, Springfield, Agawam and West Springfield Police Officers directing traffic, Public Works employees closing roads, Park Department staff keeping the park clean, Springfield Fire Department keeping a close watch on the fireworks, and so many others, including the Spirit of Springfield staff.

Please be safe and make it a Star Spangled Springfield!

-- Judy Matt

President

Springfield Gets Star Spangled for July 4th

The Spirit of Springfield is excited to bring fireworks to the city’s skyline for a Star Spangled Springfield. Festivities in Riverfront Park, sponsored by MassMutual, start at 6pm with face painters, glitter tattoos, a balloon artist, and food vendors.

Live entertainment returns to the park at 6:30pm. Spiral Logic from Falcetti Music will be the opening act, followed by welcoming comments from Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, MassMutual Foundation President Dennis Duquette, Colonel David Halasikun, Vice Commander of the 104^th Fighter Wing, and Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt, the National Anthem performed by Vanessa Ford, and emcee Alanna Flood from WWLP-TV22’s Mass Appeal. Maxxtone will then take the stage to perform an array of musical selections that will get the audience dancing, singing, and clapping to the beat.

At 9:30pm, all eyes will be on the sky. That is when Fireworks by Grucci will perform their pyrotechnic wizardry. The state-of-the-art performance will be launched from the Memorial Bridge. After hundreds of hours of choreographing, shell design and manufacturing, and set-up, the shells will burst with a rainbow of colors, smiley faces, and U-S-A.

Mix 93.1 FM will broadcast the music to enhance every burst, chrysanthemum, rocket, and the fountains that will cascade from the Memorial Bridge.

Things to Know When You Go

When you join the Spirit of Springfield in Riverfront Park for Star Spangled Springfield, please be courteous, polite, and kind. If you have not been vaccinated for COVID-19, please wear a mask. Masks will be available at food vendor locations inside the park.

Food vendors in the park will be offering a variety of eats and treats. Hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage grinders, and chips will be available from Elegant Affairs. Poppies will have fried dough, and Batch Ice Cream will be scooping up six of their top flavors. Beer, wine, and soda will also be available.

The Springfield Police Department will not be allowing pets, bicycles, skateboards, fireworks, sparklers, rollerblades, drones, or alcohol that is not sold on site.

Star Spangled Entertainment

Live entertainment is back and it’s coming to Riverfront Park for a Star Spangled Springfield, sponsored by MassMutual. For the pint sized patriots, they can have their face or hands painted, get a glitter tattoo, and enjoy balloons shaped by a balloon artist.

The first beat will be played by Spiral Logic from Falcetti Music. They take the stage at 6:30pm. The four-member band, which has been together for four years, will be performing classic rock and original music.

After the 7pm welcome, Maxxtone will bring the party. They have a nearly limitless repertoire of music that will keep the crowd dancing with classic rock, country, and pop.

Public Safety Top Priority

Public safety is the top priority for a Star Spangled Springfield. More than 40 officials met earlier this month to discuss every detail from street closings, detours, and emergency medical services to boater and fireworks safety. Amtrak Police will be staffing the tracks that guests will cross to enter Riverfront Park. The Springfield Police Department will be monitoring activity in and around the park as well as managing traffic with support from the Springfield Department of Public Works.

There will be a fire watch by the Springfield Fire Department from the moment the fireworks arrive until they leave. There will be police boats in the water to keep boaters at a safe distance. There will be officers on both sides of the Memorial Bridge from 11pm on July 3^rd to 11pm on July 4^th to keep anyone from crossing the bridge by car, foot, bicycle, or any other mode of transportation.

It is a collaborative effort between departments on both sides of the Connecticut River, as well as the Massachusetts State and Environmental Police and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Peek at the Pyrotechnics

Fireworks by Grucci started work on Springfield’s July 4^th fireworks show as soon the Spirit of Springfield received permission to make Independence Day a Star Spangled Springfield. It began with the production of shells, selecting the music, and choreographing the program, which took 19 hours.

When the pyrotechnicians arrive in Springfield on July 1^st, there will be three flatbed trailers from Joseph Freedman Company and Affordable Waste Solutions waiting for them to fill with firing tubes. A crew from the Springfield Department of Public Works will be on hand to assist. They will work all day on July 2^nd. At 11pm on July 3^rd, Charlie Arment Trucking and Affordable Waste Solutions will move the flatbed trailers to the Memorial Bridge where the wiring can be completed and the fireworks placed in the tubes. The team will also lay out boxes on the bridge for ground effects and install the MassMutual sign. It will take more than 250 man hours.

Dave Van Buskirk, the lead pyrotechnician, will get his firing cues from a track broadcast to him on one channel and the music heard on Mix 93.1 FM on another channel.

When the spectacular show is over, everything will get packed up and cleaned up, and the bridge will reopen. On July 5^th, the firing tubes will be dismantled and the trailers will be returned until next year.

Golfers Gearing Up

The support for the Spirit of Springfield and the golfers continue to increase for the Spirit of Springfield Golf Classic. More than 120 golfers have registered to participate in the July 16^th shotgun scramble at Franconia Golf Course. Suez has two foursomes. M. L. Schmitt, Eastman Chemical, and AFSME-Local 93 will be participating for the first time.

The area mayors are practicing their putting. They all have their eye on the coveted Mayor’s Cup trophy. The friendly competition will be held just prior to the tournament’s 10am shotgun start.

There is still time to register, purchase a raffle package, and donate to the raffle.

Chris Marion Photo Exhibit

The Spirit of Springfield is proud to be included in Chris Marion’s upcoming photo exhibit, “From the 413 to the NBA.” He has been photographing Spirit of Springfield events since 2017 and was a member of Springfield’s September 11^th Monument Committee. He captured every aspect of the monument from its creation to its dedication.

Chris’s show is a 10-year retrospective of his work featuring more than 100 of his most inspiring photographs taken in Western Massachusetts, and for the NBA, WNBA, and the G League. It will be held Saturday, July 17^th from 10am to 5pm at Gasoline Alley at 250 Albany Street, Springfield. Admission is free. White Lion Brewing will host a beer garden and guests can enjoy live music in the afternoon.

In this Issue

• Springfield Gets Star Spangled for July 4th

• Things to Know When You Go

• Star Spangled Entertainment

• Public Safety Top Priority

• Peek at Pyrotechnics

• Golfers Gearing Up

• Chris Marion Photo Exhibit

• Guest Column -

Mayor Domenic Sarno

• Public Servant Spotlight - Detective Gregory McCain

• Spirit of Springfield Golf Classic Registration

Guest Column

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno,

City of Springfield

United in Resilience

As I stated before, when the time came we would celebrate with Spirit of Springfield once again. Now, after we have fought so hard and remained resilient throughout the surreal challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now able to all come together, as one, and for the better in such a fitting way with our 4^th of July fireworks celebration, and later this summer for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast.

I am so looking forward to not only seeing the beautiful fireworks display by Grucci, but all the friendly faces and families who come down to picturesque Riverfront Park to enjoy the Star Spangled Springfield Independence Day celebration hosted by our Spirit of Springfield every year.

The Spirit of Springfield, who have done an amazing job of putting together this celebration for two decades now, have been hard at work with my City team to plan and prepare for not just the fun of 4^th of July, but the public safety and health aspects too. After working so hard to get through COVID-19, staying vigilant and refraining from gatherings, we are further united in resilience and can now come together safely with an uplifting and magical Star Spangled Springfield Celebration.

My wish to you all is for good health & prosperity. God Bless America and God Bless our Springfield.

Public Servant Spotlight

Gregory McCain

Detective, Springfield Police Department

Detective Gregory McCain joined the Springfield Police Department in 1997. Detective McCain is a member of the Arson & Bomb Squad; the IBPO Local 364 Patrolman’s Union Vice President, and assigned to investigate cases of elder and disabled abuse.

The 24-year veteran of the Springfield Police Department spends time educating our Springfield seniors on how to protect themselves from becoming victims. The number one scam that the elderly fall victim to are phone scams where they are told they need to pay for something with a gift card or cash. That is a red flag.

Detective McCain and the Springfield Police Department would appreciate if you warned your relatives about these types of scams so that they don’t become a victim.

Friday, July 16th

FRANCONIA GOLF COURSE

$150 PER PLAYER

$200 TEE SPONSOR

$2,500 COMMUNITY SPIRIT SPONSOR

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2021

Star Spangled Springfield

Sunday, July 4th

6pm to 10pm

9:30pm - Fireworks

Riverfront Park