Volunteers who put on Crescenta Valley fireworks show honored one of their own
In the three days leading up to the annual Fourth of July fireworks show at Crescenta Valley High School, the volunteers who put on the event were thrilled to see so many tickets selling. It was anticipated up to 4,000 people would be in attendance.
The event, as the ticket sales suggested, drew what appeared to be the predicted crowd. Sadly, however, one devoted fan of the show was missing: On Tuesday morning one of the founding members of the Crescenta Valley Fireworks Assn., Warren Boehm, passed away, said fellow member Jean Maluccio.
For nearly 30 years, Boehm helped organize the La Crescenta fireworks show, first when the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce ran it, beginning in 1990, and then with the all-volunteer association, Maluccio said.
Maluccio said Boehm had been in poor health recently. “If he’s gonna go, this is the day he would do it on,” she said Tuesday. “He loved this.”
Fellow member Steve Pierce added, “This was his day of the year, other than his family’s birthdays and anniversary. This was his day. So we’re going to ask the crowd for a moment of silence in honor of Warren.”
The association spends about $50,000 in donations they collect year-round to put on the event, where military veterans are honored.
“Many volunteers have made this a great event,” said the association’s president Robert Wollenweber. “We’re very pleased to have the community come together and celebrate the Fourth of July.”
The group added two more food trucks to this year’s event, bringing the total to eight. There were also nine inflatable slides on the field for the enjoyment of children, three more than last year.
“Every year, it just seems to get better and better,” Pierce said.
At about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, about 40 members of the fireworks crew arrived at the school to work with Robert “Hutch” Hutchins.
The 1972 Crescenta Valley graduate has been overseeing the fireworks at the school since 2000, working with an all-volunteer crew, who wore long sleeves, long pants, hard hats, goggles and ear plugs as they worked.
“It’s exciting enough to watch the show from the audience. To be even closer is just all that more exciting,” he said.
“The whole show is designed so that the shells are going off at a specific time in the air. When they’re singing about red, white and blue, you’re going to see red, white and blue shells. It’s all timed out,” he said, hours before the 20-minute display was launched. “I’m looking forward to a good show.”
La Crescenta resident Michael Powers arrived at about 5 p.m. to grab a spot on the field with his mom Molly Powers.
“We could have just driven down … and seen the fireworks, but this is — I don’t know — I like the community thing,” he said.
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
