Hard to believe it but July 4th is two weeks from tomorrow and when I think of our nation’s birthday my thoughts also turn to the annual Fireworks on the Toms River hosted by the borough of Beachwood.

Last summer should and would have been the 78th year this holiday tradition took place but you likely remember there was a bit of a problem. The company hired to put on the pyrotechnics show simply did not show up.

As a long standing member of the fireworks committee I was among the first to get a call from Mayor Ron Roma that the show was being cancelled.  Of course 92.7 WOBM has been one of the key sponsors of the event for many years as we provide music to accompany the fireworks and broadcast live from Beachwood Beach.

I was amazed then and am still today about those who blame the borough and committee in any way for what happened and I’ll draw this analogy.  You pick out and pay for furniture from a store and schedule a delivery date.  You have a time frame of when that delivery is to take place and once it goes past that time you start calling the store to find out what happened.

At first nobody answers the phone and eventually your salesman calls to say they are sorry but there was a problem and they’re not making the delivery which you had to have for that day.  Is that your fault in any way?  I would say no.

In this case Fireworks Extravaganza not only returned payment for the show and apologized for what happened (which also took place in another New Jersey town) but offered to do a free show as a sign of good faith.

So on Thursday, July 4th in riverfront towns like Beachwood, Pine Beach, Toms River, Ocean Gate and South Toms River tens of thousands will cap their holiday celebration by looking up in the sky and enjoying a spectacular show.

Finally comes this important reminder.  Fireworks continue in Beachwood because of sponsors like WOBM, Xfinity/Comcast, Spirits Unlimited and others as well as donations from businesses and residents because no taxpayer money is used.

With that said in order for this tradition to continue for years to come it is vital that those who enjoy the fireworks help by making a donation.  You can drop off or mail a check to Fireworks on the Toms River in care of the Beachwood Borough Hall.

This content is sponsored by Toyota World of Lakewood.

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