Main Beach Fireworks Are Saturday

The annual fireworks show at Main Beach in East Hampton, once a Fourth of July tradition and more recently a way to mark the end of summer on Labor Day weekend, now has a new date on the calendar. This Saturday evening — Sunday if it rains — the display will light up the August sky before a crowd that Fire Department officials hope will not only be larger, but more willing to reach into their pockets and help fund the show.

East Hampton Fire Department Chief Richard Osterberg Jr. said the department, which first organized the fireworks over 90 years ago, decided to move the date of the show due to low turnout. He thinks fewer people are willing to spend that weekend at a community event. “The problem with Labor Day, people are moving out, tenants are moving out, homeowners are getting ready to move back in. It’s the last hurrah of the summer,” he said.

Firefighters are stationed at the entrances to the village beaches with donation jars, but fewer people showing up to see the show meant fewer dollars and cents dropped in the bucket. Typically, the department was always ahead by one year. “The fireworks are done solely through donations that are made specifically for the fireworks,” Chief Osterberg said. (Other donations that are made to the fire department are not used for this unless they are marked “fireworks.”)

The East Hampton Fire Department is not alone. The Montauk Chamber of Commerce has struggled year after year to drum up donations for its Fourth of July show. The Shelter Island Chamber of Commerce canceled its annual July show at Crescent Beach, but a group of residents took over fund-raising and saved the show this summer.

In East Hampton, donations had already been dropping off since the annual show was moved from the Fourth of July, to the ire of some. Federally protected nesting piping plovers meant the show had to be postponed year after year, and eventually the decision was made to move it permanently, which caused the move to the holiday that unofficially marks the end of summer on the East End.

Also, over the years, the fireworks show itself has gotten smaller due to falling donations. “It used to be $50,000 to $60,000 on average. Now, we’re down to $30,000,” he said.

The bulk of the donations are received after a mailing that goes out after the show. “Can you imagine summer without our spectacular annual fireworks?” the mailer asks.

But, there was a contingent that was so angry about not seeing fireworks over East Hampton on the nation’s birthday that they sent in angry letters. “Some people mailed a penny” with a note, the chief said, “You’ll get the rest when you bring it back to Fourth of July.” But, the chief said, “Our hands are tied.”

Bay Fireworks puts on the show from behind the Sea Spray Cottages. It starts after dark at about 8:30 p.m.

The department is asking that anyone who enjoys the show donate what they can. “If you can send us $5, send us $5. We’ll take it,” he said.

Chief Osterberg is hopeful that the change to the last weekend in August, before Labor Day weekend, will bring an influx of people. “We would like to get it back to what it used to be when we used to have big crowds and the beaches were full and families were enjoying it,” he said.