By Stephanie Choate

Observer staff

As Williston’s Fourth of July festivities approach, Recreation Director Kevin Finnegan encouraged residents to show their local pride in the “best neighborhood” float competition.

The neighborhood floats are always “some of the most interesting to watch,” he said.

Participation has flagged in recent years, and Finnegan said he would like to see the category’s former popularity restored. The winning neighborhood gets a block party thrown by the town and Williston-Richmond Rotary, including food and entertainment.

“We’d love to see some competition from some neighborhoods, particularly some that haven’t participated before,” Finnegan said. “It’s fun for us to get out there and do the block party for them.”

The parade is set to begin on July 4 at 10 a.m. and runs along Route 2, from Johnson’s Farm to Old Stage Road.

Anyone planning to march in the parade should arrive by at least 9 a.m. To sign up, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 878-1239.

Atlas PyroVision prepares for Independence Day in Williston

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

For spectators, the annual Independence Day fireworks display in Williston lasts about 20 minutes.

For Mike Boisjoli’s team of fireworks technicians, it lasts roughly 100 hours.

“It’s about five hours of work for about every minute that we shoot,” Boisjoli said. “So it’s about 100 hours of labor from day one to finish.”

Milton resident Boisjoli is a level 5 (out of 5) fireworks technician for Jaffrey, N.H.-based Atlas PyroVision Productions. Although he’s the guy behind the Burlington, Milton and Sugarbush Fourth of July pyrotechnics, Boisjoli said Williston is special.

“The town of Williston is one of the last good, old-fashioned, classic hand-fired shows,” Boisjoli said. “The difference between manual and electric is you get more product with the manual show, because electric shows are very costly. You literally get more bang for the buck.”

Williston Director of Parks and Recreation Kevin Finnegan, who shelled out $8,500 for this year’s July Fourth fireworks, had lofty praise for Boisjoli and Atlas.

“They’re one of the premier companies in the country as far as fireworks go,” Finnegan said.

Boisjoli gave similar high marks for Finnegan’s town of employment.

“It’s one of those shows that we just love to do. We love to be out there. Williston’s such a great town,” Boisjoli said. “It’s one of those places where you feel very welcome and you can’t wait to go back there.”

Pre-fireworks festivities begin July 4 at 7 p.m. at Allen Brook School. The fireworks display has an anticipated starting time of 9:30 p.m.

The entertainment program is identical to last year, with carnival-style concessions, glow necklaces, music by SuperSounds DJ and a bounce castle for kids from Vermont Bounce.

“If folks want to see something different, then they have to step up with some volunteers to do it, because we’re pretty much maxed out with what we have going on,” Finnegan said.

What is guaranteed not to be a repeat is the fireworks display.

“We videotape most of the shows we shoot, so after we shoot a show we all get together and take notes,” Boisjoli said. “It’s actually an ongoing educational process. Every year we learn from the year before.”

Boisjoli, who owns a Subway franchise in Milton, contrasted his day job with his moonlighting gig.

“You’ve got two kinds of jobs. You’ve got a job where you go to work every day and you punch in, and you collect your check on Friday and you pay your bills,” Boisjoli said. “Then you have a job that you absolutely love to do and you don’t even care if you get paid—that’s the kind of job that fireworks are for the guys and girls who work for me.”

Boisjoli compared the experience of receiving a shipment of Fourth of July fireworks to a different American holiday.

“It’s like Christmas,” he said. “When we unwrap our presents, there are big bombs inside the box.”

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MONDAY, JULY 2

6 p.m. – Family bike races

Williston Community Park Field House

Registration begins at 6:00 p.m.

Races begin at 6:45 p.m.

These events are family oriented bike races within the park and will include: slowest bike race; scooter race; kids races; family race; adult race.

 

TUESDAY, JULY 3

4 p.m. – 6 p.m. — Library book sale

Williston Central School Gym

Contact Susan Raimy at 872-9707.

 

6 p.m. — Firecracker 5k Fun Run

Williston Community Park Field House

Registration begins at 4:45 p.m.

Race begins at 6:00 p.m.

Cost is $8 (includes T-shirt)

Categories include male and female, with age groups: under 12; 12-15; 16-19; 20-29; 30-39; 40-49; 50+; family

Awards will be announced and given out during the band break at the Ice Cream Social

 

7 p.m. — Town band concert and ice cream social

Village Green

Come out and join the Williston Historical Society’s annual ice cream social as you listen to the town band play it’s first concert of the summer season.

 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4

9 a.m. – 2 p.m. — Library book sale

Williston Central School Gym

 

10 a.m. — Independence Day parade

Theme: “Homegrown Heroes”

Grand Marshal: Lynwood Osborne, celebrating 60 years with the Williston Fire Department

Parade float organizer: Tony Lamb

Judges Stand: Town Hall

Parade Route: Route 2 along Williston Road from Johnson’s Farm to Old Stage Road

Prizes: best neighborhood entry; best business entry; best theme; best community organization or group; best church; best band; best entry with music; best individual; best entry with children; judges’ favorite car; judges’ favorite tractor; judges’ award

 

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. — Fire Department open house

Stop by the new firehouse and check out the facility.

 

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. — Arts and crafts show

Williston Central School front lobby

Contact Nancy Stone at 879-0243

 

11:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Williston Central School Cafeteria

Eat in or take out. Tickets go on sale at 9:00 a.m. and can be purchased the night before at the ice cream social; children $6;  chicken only $6; adults $10.

Menu: 1/2 chicken, coleslaw, rolls, cranberry sauce, cookie, lemonade, milk or coffee

 

11 a.m. – 1 p.m. — Food vendors

The Village Green

Hamburgers from Williston-Richmond Rotary

Hot dogs from Williston Boy Scout Troop 692

Popcorn from Williston Girls Softball League

 

12:30 p.m. — Parade Awards Presentation

The Bandstand on the Green

 

12:35pm – 1:00pm — Children’s games

The Village Green

 

1 p.m. — Frog Jumping Contest

Behind Williston Central School

 

7 p.m. — Musical entertainment

Allen Brook School

Music by Supersounds DJ, food vendors, glow necklaces, a Bounce Castle from Vermont Bounce and more.

Very limited parking will be available at Allen Brook. A shuttle bus will be operating from Williston Central School for folks traveling from the village. Please take advantage of the shuttle to eliminate the parking crunch at Allen Brook. The shuttle will begin at 7 p.m. and will continue until shortly before the fireworks begin; it will begin returning shortly after the fireworks are complete.

 

9:30 p.m. — Fireworks display

Fireworks will begin at dark.

 

All Day

Free entrance to Lake Iroquois for Williston residents

For more information about any of the Fourth of July activities, visit the town website, www.town.williston.vt.us, or contact The Williston Parks and Recreation Department at 878-1239 or [email protected]

Veteran firefighter to serve as town’s parade grand marshal

By Luke Baynes

Observer staff

The grand marshal of Williston’s 2012 Independence Day Parade is the living embodiment of the parade’s “homegrown heroes” theme.

Lynwood Osborne, 79, is as homegrown as Willistonians come, having been born and raised in the same North Williston Road house where he still resides.

And if his Korean War record isn’t proof enough of his heroism, January will mark Osborne’s 60th year of service with the Williston Fire Department.

Osborne, known as “Ozzie” to most locals, was 21 when he joined the fire department in 1953. In those days, Osborne recalled, it was strictly a volunteer department for what was then a “regular farming town.”

“You had barn fires, farm fires, old houses with old wiring in there, a lot of chimney fires,” Osborne said. “I’d say 30 years ago is when it really started to change. The town started to change. There were more houses, newer houses, more businesses, different types of fires.”

Osborne, who once served as assistant fire chief, currently holds the rank of lieutenant. As the department’s safety officer, he is in charge of ensuring that firefighters receive proper training.

“What I think I like about firefighting is I am helping people,” Osborne said. “Now, when the younger people are coming up, I help train them and give them my knowledge.”

Williston Fire Chief Ken Morton, himself a 30-year veteran of the department, said Osborne’s dedication to the fire department makes him deserving of the grand marshal honor.

“He loves the department,” Morton said. “You’ve got to give anybody credit who shows up for 60 years.”

Osborne has decided that his 60th year of fighting fires will be his last. He has set a retirement date of Feb. 4, 2013—the same date he and his wife, Thelma, will celebrate 58 years of marriage.

“I just kind of know that I’m ready,” he said. “I can feel myself slowing down.”

The former Army mechanic doesn’t plan to sit idly in retirement, however.

“I’ll probably find another job somewhere,” Osborne said. “I used to deliver car parts. That is a real fun job. I’m a mechanic at heart, really.”

By Patricia Griffin

I write this letter regarding a serious matter of safety for all our neighborhoods. Please alert your community that there is an unsupervised child with access to a gun shooting at pets, wildlife and people. The Williston Police ask to be contacted immediately (878-6611) whenever gun shots are heard or a person is seen carrying a rifle in the area.

My neighbors and I often hear gunfire coming from the direction of the protected deer shed/wetland on the restricted access road between Wood Lily and Forest Run. Believe it or not, while this area of Williston is mapped as “restricted,” it is not illegal to discharge a bird gun. Families with children, walkers, runners, and people exercising their dogs go through there daily; it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. On June 18, 2012 about 10:30 a.m., someone did.

That morning, my neighbor down the street reached over to pet a cat in her own driveway, and as she did so, she felt several pellets hit her. In the same instant, the cat vanished in a flash.

She looked up and glimpsed a youth (she guessed him to be about 10-12 years of age) standing with a rifle by the break-away gate on the Forest Run side. Naturally she yelled at him and he, of course, darted back through the woods. She thinks he might have been so intent on stalking the cat, he did not notice her there. Had she not been wearing sunglasses (there was a ping in the lens) she would have lost an eye; another pellet lodged in her face, bled profusely, and needed a surgeon to dig it out.

Photographs of the injury and the offending ammo were taken to the police department where she filed a report. The cat owner, concerned her pet was likewise shot, had him examined and X-rayed by a vet, costing hundreds of dollars to do so.

Perhaps the next logical step is to lobby for tighter controls regarding pellet gun use. If you support such a motion, please contact me at [email protected]

Patricia Griffin is a Williston resident