Creative industries in Washtenaw County add hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy. In the weeks and months to come, host Deb Polich, the President and CEO of Creative Washtenaw, explores the myriad of contributors that make up the creative sector in Washtenaw County.
ABOUT KEVIN PATERSON:
Kevin is a long-time member of the Michigan Pyrotechnics Arts Guild.
RESOURCES:
American Pyrotechnics Association
Michigan Pyrotechnics Arts Guild (MPAG)
TRANSCRIPTION:
Deb Polich: Welcome to creative:impact on 89 one WEMU. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your host. Thanks for tuning in for creative:impact, the WEMU segment that explores Washtenaw County's arts and creative industries and the people and businesses who help make our community a great place for all to create, live, work, learn, play, and visit. Happy Independence Day! It's a day of parades, bands and picnics, marking the day when 13 colonies declared independence from England. All the remembrance and fun culminates after dark when fireworks in all their colors and light bursts in the sky. You may not have thought about fireworks as an art, but I bet our guest does. Kevin Paterson is a member of the Michigan Pyrotechnic Arts Guild, or MPAG, and he loves fireworks. Kevin, welcome to creative:impact.
Kevin Paterson: Hi, Deb. Thanks for having me on the show.
Deb Polich: Yeah. So, who doesn't like the splendor of fireworks? Few of us, though, probably never gave a thought to joining others who share a common passion for this art, craft and science. How did you get involved?
Kevin Paterson: Well, it was kind of by accident, I guess--a series of happy coincidence. A longtime friend of mine who apparently had been shooting fireworks for many years that I wasn't aware of--he randomly asked me one day before a 4th of July show if I'd be interested in joining him to set up a display show. And the little kid in me who always played with firecrackers and fireworks over the years, you know, couldn't say yes fast enough. And from that moment on, you know, I kind of jumped in with both feet. And it's grown to be quite a passionate hobby of mine.
Deb Polich: And so, have you also learned a bit about the history of fireworks, you know, as you drove into this world?
Kevin Paterson: Yeah. You know, I've learned so much more than I ever knew there was to learn about fireworking. You know, from the history of it to all the different parts of fireworks that I've gotten involved with, especially manufacturing fireworks, you know? At MPAG, one of the main goals of our guild is to teach the art of firework, in which a large part of that is making fireworks, you know, the different processes and components that go into that. And it's been an eye-opening, amazing experience.
Deb Polich: So, I read on the national--the American Pyrotechnic Arts Guild site--that we can actually credit China with the invention of the firework and that fireworks have been associated with independence and national celebrations pretty much since the beginning of the U.S. Is that how you understand it as well?
Kevin Paterson: Yeah, that is correct. So, the basis of all fireworks is black powder, which, of course, was created by the Chinese thousands of years ago. And shortly after the American Revolution, you know, we were told to celebrate our independence with bonfires and illuminations. And that's a tradition that we've been celebrating since, you know, the late 1700s.
Deb Polich: I love that idea: the illumination side of it. And I have to admit that. Although I love going to a fireworks display and I love the finales and my favorite, you know, bursts of illumination, if you will, but I'm rather surprised that there are so many different roles or jobs when it comes to this field: shell builders, professional shooters, package art collectors, pyrochoreographers and people who are just plain like to watch them. How do you classify yourself?
Kevin Paterson: Well, it would be really hard to put myself in one category. When I first started, I was simply a display shooter. I was just a helper, really. And from there, I went off to be a display operator. Now, I'm in charge of various fireworks displays around the state. But I also got into manufacturing. I'm a hobbyist fireworks builder. So, I built fireworks from, you know, paper and string and raw chemicals all the way to finished products. You know, I'm involved in pretty much every aspect of fireworking across the board. I don't really fall into just one category.
Deb Polich: So, I'm intrigued by pyrochoreographers. It sounds so, you know, dance-like. What do they do?
Kevin Paterson: So, pyrochoreographers: we've got a few different types of displays that we shoot on the 4th of July shows. Some are simple, you know, just shells that are shot one after another after another. But the more complicated and complex shows are free, choreographed well ahead of time these days, using very specific software that was created, which times the flight of each individual shell. And you're able to, basically, plug in a specific firework item to, you know, the beat of the music, so that as you're playing a song, you can have shells literally bursting in the air at specific bits of a song. So, it's like, you know, a dance of fire and and light in the air. It's a beautiful thing, but it's, you know, it's all very carefully planned by people who have the vision to do that. You've definitely got to have artistic vision to be able to see that in your mind and translate that into software and make it happen out on site.
Deb Polich: Who knew how amazing making the sky a stage? 89-1 WEMU's creative:impact continues. I'm Deb Polich and my guest is Kevin Paterson. And we're learning everything we can about fireworks. So, you know, besides the gunpowder and the source of ignition, the things that are simple in my mind, how do they work? Like, you know, how do you set colors? And how do you create the different designs?
Kevin Paterson: So, as far as how the colors come to be, you know, this is something I wish I would have paid attention to in chemistry class back in high school. I had no idea.
Deb Polich: There's a lot of science to this, right?
Kevin Paterson: There really is. So, the fireworks chemicals are....you know, they fall into a few basic categories of oxidizers, fuels, and different metals and metallic salts. And different chemicals will create different colors on the spectrum. You've got chemicals like barium that will display a green color when it's burned, or strontium, which will burn on the red end of the spectrum, and so on. And so, imagine the process of making a gumball. These chemicals are put into these big rollers, and chemicals are layered little by little until the stars, we call them, the stars are the little bits of chemical ball that fly through the air as they're burning, and they create the colors in the sky. So, it's a process, you know? For a large shell, say a ten- or 12-inch shell, which is, you know, a very, very big shell, it can take a hobbyist, a guy like myself, maybe a few weeks or a month to build the shell from start to finish something that will display in about 10 seconds of time. You know, it's a labor of love.
Deb Polich: And speaking of displays, when a community like Milan or Whitmore Lake or Chelsea buys a display, what do they buy? Do they buy a package that says you get this many and this is what it's going to do?
Kevin Paterson: Yeah. So, typically, when a township reaches out to a fireworks company, they'll present a budget to the company and the company will give them a proposal and offer, you know, a certain duration show. And we'll provide, you know, different size shells, a specific duration for the total show. And there are different effects, different colors, that you can specifically order. And it's different for every show. It all depends on what their display wants or needs are.
Deb Polich: And I imagine--and it's really important to mention that the importance of safety and how fireworks are governed---is really important to these communities. Correct?
Kevin Paterson: Absolutely. Safety is paramount. That is the number one concern when we do any display show, no matter where it is. And it's all very closely regulated, and we have a certain safety standard for table of distance. And that's all based on the size of shell that's being shot at a particular venue. And that will dictate the distance that the crowd has to be from the display area or the launch site.
Deb Polich: And, Kevin, I've got to wrap up. I'm going to just ask you one more question. What's the most spectacular display you've seen, or what's your favorite firework?
Kevin Paterson: Hmm. So, the most spectacular display I've ever seen, I think that's pretty easy for me. So, back in 2012, I went to the PGI, which is the Pyrotechnic Guild International. And it's a week-long celebration of displays and, you know, all things fireworks. And that was the first big convention I ever went to. And I saw a display that was put on by a company. I think it was Dominator Fireworks. And the display was so well-choreographed with the colors and the layers of the sky, because there are low-level, mid-level and very high-level fireworks. And they displayed and filled up the entire sky like a beautiful dark canvas with coordinating colors. It was emotional. You know, it was so beautiful.
Deb Polich: I can hear it in your voice still. Hey, Kevin, thanks so much for being part of the show. Happy Independence Day! And we look forward to celebrating. That's Kevin Paterson, a fireworks enthusiast and a member of the Michigan Pyrotechnics Arts Guild. Find out more about Kevin and MPAG at WEMU. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your creative impact host. Mat Hopson is our producer. We invite you to join us every Tuesday to meet the people who make Washtenaw creative. This is 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Public radio from Eastern Michigan University.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
