Sitka’s fireworks display will be postponed a week, after the shipment was held up at the Canadian border.
Roger Hames, whose grocery business sponsors the show, says that the reason for the delay was unclear. The same vendor in Big Lake, Alaska, supplies several other communities in Southeast — all of whose shipments made it to Haines in time for surface delivery on a barge prior to July 3.
Sitka’s fireworks, however, won’t arrive until July 7.
Not to be put off, Hames says he’s decided to move ahead with the show anyway — just a week later. So Sitka’s official fireworks will launch at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, July 10.
Hames has a long family history in Sitka, and remembers a time when island living had more drawbacks than today. Television programming, for instance, was often delayed because tapes had to be sent by mail.
That spirit is what prompted him to have the show on the 10th. “We could pout about it,” said Hames, “or celebrate a little later.”
He added, however, that his grandkids will be disappointed because they are leaving town on July 5.
All other Independence Day festivities in Sitka will be happening on the weekend of July 3. See the complete schedule.
