Celebrating Fourth of July in the time of COVID-19

PORTAGE, Wis. (WMTV) – For people in the City of Portage, the weekend before the Fourth of July brings the annual fireworks show.

“People gather in the park and of course we have food and music and all those activities,” said Marianne Hanson, Executive Director of the Portage Chamber of Commerce.

In 2020, the city had to get a little more creative to make things work.

“We’re not doing a gathering because of COVID-19,” Hanson said, adding, “But we still wanted to offer the fireworks for people.”

Taking inspiration from restaurants, city officials came up with the idea of “drive-in” fireworks.

“You can pack up your kids, put on their pajamas, bring them in the car, have a snack, watch the show and then go back home and go to sleep,” Hanson explained.

Normally, the city holds a celebration watch the fireworks from Pauquette Park, but this year, they moved the fireworks launch to a cornfield and encouraged people to park on side streets or parking lots.

Some families started celebrating Saturday afternoon. Dillon Nelson and his mom visited his grandparents, who live right across the street from the field where fireworks were set up to launch.

“I’ll be a front row view[er],” Nelson said.

Nelson and his family spent the afternoon grilling, playing games and planning some small fireworks of their own.

“The smoke things and the dog ones, usually those and sparklers,” Nelson explained.

Organizers hope this is a way families can still get in the spirit of Fourth of July.

“We want to give people an opportunity to celebrate and this is going to do that in a safe way,” Hanson said.

The fireworks show started at 9:30 p.m. The city set off a single firework every 15 minutes starting at 8:45 p.m. to remind people to get in a good position to watch the show.

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