InFocus featuring this year's Star Spangled Springfield

From the 22 news plus studio This is 22 news in focus with patrick berry Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of in focus. I am your host patrick berry and it is that time of the year We've got our our festive uh 4th of july Modern day sparkler. It's safe for the family for the kids I'm excited today because joining me across the desk is our good friend judy matt She is the president of the spirit of springfield. And uh today we are talking about the uh, The annual july 4th celebration judy. Thank you. Thank you. This is fantastic I love the modern day modern day sparklers, but we are talking about the the july 4th. Um, celebration this year every year It's bigger and better in some way shape or form and I've heard this year for 2026 You're kind of going a little bit back in time to and reviving one of the musical acts that I think has had some of the Greatest public response and that is incorporating the springfield symphony orchestra this year. That is a wonderful Wonderful addition to this year's celebration because we are celebrating the nation's 250th We're so lucky to have a symphony orchestra. Absolutely and between heather and I bring Heather is the president of the springfield symphony orchestra and I Bring you get back the the main focus is to have people see live music Many who have not full symphony orchestra 62 pieces Down at rana riverfront park with their families. It's going to be a memorable occasion Oh, absolutely, you know, we're going to cycle through there's some of the photos now that It's not just fireworks and I think you know That's what I think people think about is, you know, come 9 9 30 whatever sunset is it's the fireworks but it's hours and hours of Family fun leading up to that. Tell me about some of the things families can experience Well, the park's going to open at six and we will have all kinds of food from six on But you're more than welcome to bring your own picnic if you like, okay and it's up on the park and many people do and um, but we have for the kids we have Face painting balloon making the springfield armory has been a wonderful partner this season And they're going to be giving out tri-corner hats for all the kids We're giving out they're giving out thousands of american flags. They're bringing a um, Clothing that people wore in that period so the kids can try different clothing and They're going to give lots of information about what they do. They're going to have um, A cannon that looks like the cannon made out of plastic but so people could see it And that's just them and uh So all that starts at six The springfield water department has water for everybody until eight o'clock when they close and we have all kinds of uh food great food and um That ends at nine nine o'clock so that people can go watch the fireworks But this year having a springfield symphony orchestra uh They're going to be performing in festival field So when you go into riverfront park and you go you have to find room for that many people. That's right You go over the tracks Festival field is down to the left. Okay, not that far, but you go up the little grade and you'll see it And this the orchestra's back is going to be like to the hall of fame. They're going to be playing Toward to the river. Yes toward yes and toward the bridge and so all of the guests will be facing them But they're back to the uh to the bridge and everyone's of course got to bring their own Their own chairs or blankets and what have you and then when the concert's over They can either get up and walk closer to the bridge or just move around and watch the fireworks from there Well, one of the great things is those fireworks you can see from so many great locations, you know, you can be up near um Long hill street upwards forest park, you know, west springfield agawam You can you know, even if you you know, you don't want to make it down to that area You can oh, yeah, there's so many great places to see the fireworks and it's simulcast 93.1 Okay, and it's uh, which really makes it because we gave all the music to we get to pick out the music with the gruchies and they send us a list and then Uh, they put the fireworks to the the music let me ask you this is this This celebration's been going on for quite a number of years. Yeah Is it at that point now where it sort of runs itself? Like you've got a checklist of no No as i'm asking the question But you have a checklist of what needs to get done. Oh sure, but it doesn't just sort of No flow anymore. It flows it flows. I had a meeting last week with public safety, you know What's included in public safety? You have mima You have mima. Oh, massachusetts emergency management. Okay, they're there you have three underwater scuba teams We have the coast guard. We have the environmental police. We have the springfield west springfield agawam state police wow, uh american medical response Uh dakin animal shelter All there's so many people last week. We had 32 people in the room just to talk about these issues in uh, ty denson who said of um, Emergency management for the city. He conducts it and um, and they talk about frequencies that they're on There is so much that goes on. Oh, i'm sure there's so much in the coordination among the different departments You know to make sure everything's covered and everyone remains safe. That's like that. I didn't say dpw Dpw does so much right and there's so much that goes into this and people they don't have to know about it You know, but we know about it and we put it together and there's one meeting after another you got to have that And then um, they have their plan in place And so if something happened to one group, we have a plan filed and there will be many many people plus um Having this symphony come we're expecting several thousand more people and we just have people to be patient Uh, if you're coming on the highway, you got they're going to close the ramps at 7 30 to get there early And then go down and enjoy yourself a little while and you'll enjoy the fireworks And the symphony and by the way, the symphony remarks will start at 7 p.m The symphony will be on the stage And then following the remarks which will be brief the concert will begin Do I I know you said you're simulcasting it on the radio is the springfield symphony playing throughout the fireworks Or do they play up until the fireworks start? They must end by nine o'clock. Okay And then we give people a chance to walk to where they want to go. Otherwise, there'd be a stampede You know, but but it's a good question because the symphony thought that they'd play to the fireworks You can't do that. You just can't do that. And you know with grucci It's so synchronized and there's so many people involved and you've got it's a process and it's a plan And like I said, they've had the music for two months They played it all back to us told us what fireworks going to go off with what right? But heather thought she'd do like the 1812 and then the overture. It doesn't doesn't work Not when you do something with the fire. No, no, not for the most part, but there's just an awful lot and with the symphony comes a stage And just bringing the stage in so many Additional things have to be done this year to provide for the artists and give them what they deserve right and for all the the community coming and Um, heather had said well, we'll do a 20-minute intermission for the artists. I said you give a 20-minute intermission You're going to lose the whole audience. They're going to get up and they're going to start walking around So she's going to have the the youth orchestra Oh an interlude between exactly which makes a lot of sense makes a lot of sense, right? And then it's a chance to shine. Oh, yeah. Yeah But you know with heather working it's going to be great because she is just so enthusiastic And when I called her several months ago three and a half four months ago I said heather. What do you think you want to bring? symphony down to the park And she's well I have tears in my eyes pretty because I wanted to do that to bring the music to the people nice And that's what it's all about. It's going to be making a lot of memories that night. Absolutely We are up on our first commercial break stay with us We've got plenty more to talk about when it comes to this year's star spangled springfield This is 22 news in focus with patrick berry Welcome back everyone. We're celebrating uh, fourth of july judy has been kind enough to give me a safety, uh sparkler Oh, it's got multiple settings, too. Oh, yeah, I like that Um, we're talking star spangled springfield that happens each and every year on the fourth of july It doesn't matter the fourth of july is a saturday this year. It could be a wednesday It always happens on the fourth and so many great things are happening Uh this year you've got the springfield symphony orchestra A performer which they have not if memory serves me right they have not 98 Really? It's been that long since 1998 30 years. Yeah, and the last time we did it We used to swear in the new americans on the steps of city hall And a man by the name of judge joseph pellegrino would swear the men and always give them a lovely little talk And then we would have the symphony concert on the steps of symphony hall Very neat. Yeah, and everybody would watch the fireworks from there. Okay, so that's how it was done So when did you move to riverfront park? uh I'm sick and was it was it a Was the move to riverfront park just because more space than court square? Correct. Oh court square. It was body to body in court square, you know And the fireworks of course went off the bridge and I think people could have gone down to the bridge to watch it But all the vendors and everything were all in court square. Well The riverfront park makes it a park party basically, it's not a downtown party. Yeah. Yeah logistically For setting off the fireworks from the memorial bridge the bridge closes Is it 7 a.m Or 7 p.m. The night before 11 p.m. On the 3rd Oh, so it's 11 for some reason. I had seven stuck in my 11 p.m On the 3rd And then we have tractor trailers that are loaded with the fireworks and they are driven from the springfield side Over to the west spring around the rotary come over. So they're facing The south side of the bridge and then the grouchy people work all night till about four o'clock the next day We have big tall lights that are shining in them so that they can do their work And they will be there and and the chief pyrotechnician he stays The entire time someone has to be with the fireworks. So he is there until the fireworks are finished. Wow I mean it you know, it's funny a lot of people do they go they enjoy but it's the logistics of pulling this off You know, you mentioned it earlier all the different departments, you know You had a meeting with 32 people involved and that's and that's clearly not everybody But the logistics in getting this and it's all free it's free for the public come down enjoy the symphony Bring your chair, you know pack your picnic dinner, whichever it's face painting for the kids It's just another one of those wonderful events that that make western mass special. No, it's nice and there's so many Generous people that make it work, right, you know, and and i've got to say mass mutual is it at the top of the list? and um They're not only helping fund Symphony, but they're helping fund the fireworks. But then the city is uh, Tim sheehan is helping out. Everybody's helping out in some ways. There's such a list from charlie Yeah, charlie I'm a trucking who gives us the trucks And somebody else gives us trucks and then somebody gives us the drivers Because it's one thing to bring the trucks and then after it's over they got drivers come and take it off and they gotta sweep the bridge and There's just so many moving parts on this and it's a big safety issue, you know, right and we will probably have a minimum People don't realize that we'll have a minimum of a hundred boats in the water people don't think of us having boats on the water, but Where the bridge is you have to have 400 feet to the north and to the south of where the fireworks are, right? In safety and then beyond that is where you have so many boats You can't believe that there's that many boats around here, but yeah, it's really great Well, they you know, they they you know come down from up north they come up north from down south but it is I mean i've been very fortunate in my in my life. I've have experienced fireworks from a boat It's kind of a cool thing because it really is. Yeah, but the display is Is one of the best in new england for fireworks? I think it is and yeah, it's the grouchy brothers. There's the grouchy family You know the grouchies were their second oldest client that they have And they were saying the requests this year have been extraordinary So you'll see a lot of people doing fireworks different times because they can't do them all on the 4th of july. Exactly, but We've had such a marvelous relationship and we've had the same chief pyrotechnician for probably 15 years now And that's really important and you know What people don't know is the fireworks come in days before And we go to a certain area where they do all the work that they have to do Exactly before they load them on the trucks and uh, and I must say the sheraton hilton garden They give us all the rooms for the grouchies. Nice. They the people that gave donations, you know, we're feeding. Um, the artists And a 90 meat outlet just says to me how much food do you need for 100 200 300? Just tell me how much you need and then elegant affairs cooks all the food I mean these are Relatively, they're not mass mutuals But they are just so generous with every organization Yeah plays a role. Everybody does something to make it work. That's why it's great West springfield's helpful the state's helpful with the bridge We can't do it unless west springfield gives us the okay from their part of the bridge But of course they do now mayor will is a good guy. He always helps over there but none of this happens without the partners and the fundraising because I mean Yeah Granted partners partnerships go a long way, but there's still costs that come with it and that's where the public can help out well the fireworks this year And the concert it's going to range about a quarter of a million dollars. Wow, and um When I say this i'm saying this with a little bit of glee that doesn't cover any of the cost of the spirit of springfield We raise additional costs for the gna the overhead so to speak But mass mutual does the a big part of the fireworks and we have some vendors down there That uh that night and we get a piece of that which is very helpful So to go toward the fireworks and everything and you know the park they do a great job. The place is going to look pristine DPw I just can't even begin to tell you the help we have and You can't give enough kudos to the dpw because right? You're right. The fireworks will end People will filter out of there Yeah, but you know, you know by 11 o'clock it's mostly empty By daybreak, you'd never know anybody was there the dpw just goes above and beyond they're really they're the best exactly and they help us with the the tractor trailers and And they help put up the scaffolding. That's that says mass mutual on it By the way, it's the hundred and seventy fifth anniversary of mass mutual. Oh, wow So they're going to have fireworks that are going to be one seven five Of course the two five o's But uh, it is their 175th anniversary. We're so lucky. We have them in our community. Absolutely. Absolutely judy I can't thank you enough for giving me some of your time this afternoon to talk about star seven star spangled springfield july 4th Every year on july 4th, uh, everything starts about 6 p.m Fireworks go off about 9 30 exactly 9 30 exactly judy. Always fun seeing you. Thank you. Happy holidays. Thank you This is 22 news in focus with patrick berry