YORK, Pa. — On Independence Day, while many Americans celebrate with cookouts, fireworks, and parades, others choose to spend it at the stadium with the York Revolution and Lancaster Stormers. The schedule included an orchestra concert, fireworks, and competitions.
According to John Gibbson, the general manager of The York Revolution, "There's not much more American than baseball and fireworks on the Fourth of July."
This year marks the 18th year the York Revolution hosted a Fourth of July celebration, with over 4,000 people coming out to see the game and participate in festivities.
"So when you combine those two things, it’s a big celebration of America here," said Gibbson.
A team of three, including a father, son, and Eric Secrest, the lead technician of Pyrotecnico from Lancaster County, ensures the firework show goes off without a hitch with a little friendly competition.
"My son will be shooting up on this show and I'll be shooting that show, so it's father against son," said Eric Secrest.
It takes the team 13 hours to set up for the show.
"The first thing that we do is what you're seeing right now. We pull the racks of the equipment off the truck, stage it, get everything nailed together, and then the next stage is to clean everything and make sure it's ready to accept the product, and then we drop our product and we wire everything," said Secrest.
For this show, they're working off an electronic firing system where they control when the fireworks go off. The reward is the fireworks lighting up the sky, celebrating America's birthday.
"There is a thrill of having a good show, put your own personal spin on things to the crowd," said Secrest.
"Every American, no matter what your beliefs are, should celebrate this day, and this is a great way that we can get the whole community together, regardless of what you believe and who you vote for -- let's just vote on baseball and fireworks and have a fun time," said Gibbson.
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