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For Richmond Flying Squirrels graphic design and creative services manager Hunter Glotz, the “In-Your-Face Fireworks” show is a core memory.
Glotz, who grew up in the Richmond area, remembers parking his car outside The Diamond when he was in high school and watching that show. So he’s seen the glamorous side of it.
Now a member of Richmond‘s staff, he’s familiar with the process behind the display, a logistical effort that includes standing out in the middle of The Diamond after the show is done and picking up every individual piece of cardboard.
“We pick up the pieces by hand on the field,” said Flying Squirrels director of entertainment Caroline Phipps-Erwin. “Every firework show, our entire front office staff is out there on our hands and knees.”
Though that grueling work can lead to late nights, Glotz said it’s a “bonding” experience that lets him connect with his coworkers.
“In-Your-Face Fireworks,” as the team officially describes the multicolored array of midair explosions, are a staple of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Phipps-Erwin said. Every Thursday and Saturday night, the organization shoots off fireworks, weather permitting, both after the game and during the national anthem.
The overall planning for the display starts immediately after the previous season ends. When the schedule comes out, Phipps-Erwin immediately jots down all the nights that the Flying Squirrels will shoot off fireworks, then passes that info along.
From there, the organization sorts out pricing and other details.
“We have a meeting every game day where we go over everything that is going on that day,” Phipps-Erwin said. “We split our staff into firework teams.”
Flying Squirrels director of operations Austin Doherty said the show is set up in center field because the fireworks have to be 150 feet away from people at all times. After the last pitch at The Diamond, it takes roughly 5-10 minutes of prep, Phipps-Erwin said.
The fire marshal, which Doherty said the organization books in advance, gives the all-clear before the show begins. Factors that affect the shows are weather, specifically rain and wind, and city noise ordinances.
“We had many instances where we’re right on that borderline where we’re allowed to make that judgment call,” Doherty said. “If the fireworks get wet, there’s no way to disarm a firework, it’s just going to sit there. We do our very best to make it so that we can shoot them off.”
Doherty added that every single firework has to be plugged in because it goes off through an electrical signal.
Following the show, the staff has to clean up the remains immediately because the resulting phosphorus and other materials are bad for the grass.
“It would cause little holes that are about cluster size that would just be dead spots throughout the outfield,” Doherty said.
Fourth of July weekend is the biggest fireworks show of the year for the organization, with a runtime between 12 and 14 minutes.
For the staff, they said they sometimes forget just how special the shows are for fans because so much work goes into putting them in motion.
“Just seeing the players and their families and kids and everyone standing in the dugout watching them,” Phipps-Erwin said, “it’s just a connection point that I think brings people together.”
Seeing the joy that the show brings to fans makes picking up all those scraps a little more worthwhile.
“You get so used to it, so you can get bogged down by it,” Glotz said. “It’s always someone’s first time out here, and we try to do it unlike anyone else.”
From the Archives: Professional baseball in Richmond, 1953-1990
Maddox Piedra, 8, looks on during a fireworks display following the Richmond Flying Squirrels' game against the Erie SeaWolves last September. The fireworks demonstrations have become a staple of Richmond home games.