During last year’s Fourth of July celebration in downtown Turlock, held on the weekend before the actual holiday, Travis Regalo was already thinking ahead to America’s 250th birthday in 2026.
Regalo, executive director of the Downtown Turlock Property Owners Association, not only wanted the celebration closer to the actual holiday, but he also wanted to see the return of a fireworks display.
How bad did he want the fireworks included a part of Turlock’s festivities? Bad enough to become a licensed fireworks operator.
“We had another pyrotechnics company all ready to go,” said Regalo. “But they backed out on us at the end of March.”
Just about eight weeks before the country’s semissesquicentenial anniversary, Turlock did not have a fireworks operator.
“Because this year is the 250th celebration, they were too busy,” he said. “And Turlock was too small. But we weren’t going to let this fall apart.”
Regalo eventually found another company – Pryo Spectacular – that was also booked solid but offered a potential solution. Pyro Spectacular had a semi-retired employee who maintained an operator’s license. The catch? Pyro Spectacular didn’t have the additional manpower to accompany its licensed operator for the Turlock show.
So, Regalo and five others offered to obtain the required training to be able to assist the licensed operator.
“In theory, we’re doing a two-year course in the span of three months,” said Regalo, who has crisscrossed the Valley working and learning at various venues, such as Fresno Grizzlies baseball games, casino promotions, graduations – you name it – to make Turlock’s Fourth of July celebration a success. “I don’t want to scare anyone. We’ll have a fire marshal and a licensed fireworks operator working with us, but after the Fourth of July, we’ll have enough experience and hours to be licensed operators ourselves.
We were not going to let it fall apart. We’ve jumped every hurdle there is to jump. It was never ‘if,’ but ‘how.’ How are we going make this work?”
It’s going to work like this: On Friday, July 3, a downtown parade will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. After the parade, a holiday festival – featuring the Makin’ Noise band – will be held at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds. Then, at dusk (typically around 9 p.m.), a fireworks display will be held.
Parking, in the ag lot near Canal Drive and Soderquist Road, is available for $10, and each parking pass comes with four $4-off coupons inside the festival. There is no charge to get into the festival.
“At this point, we have figured a way around every obstacle that we’ve encountered,” said Allie Jeffery, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which is partnering with the DTPOA to make the celebration a reality. “It’s amazing how many people have come forward and asked, ‘How can I help?’”
Jeffrey, Regalo and Meghan Riddle, the administrative assistant shared by the Chamber and the DTPOA, have been a three-person wrecking crew, raising $75,000 in less than six months, brining on 38 sponsors – Vail Creek is the title sponsor after contributing $10,000.
“It’s been amazing,” said Jeffrey. “And it’s a great blend of our community – dairies, construction, bankers, lawyers and everything in between. And it’s not just downtown or just one corridor; it’s been our whole town stepping up.”
Anyone interested in become a certified pyrotechnics operator – “We’re always looking for more,” Regalo said – is encouraged to contact Regalo at director@downtownturlock.com or by calling 209-634-6459.
