Get to know the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA)
The APA is the voice of the fireworks industry. The APA promotes safety in the design & use of all types of legal fireworks. Pyro Spectaculars by Souza has been a sustaining member of the APA for decades and strongly supports their mission to preserve, protect, and promote the American tradition of celebrating with fireworks. Check out the video to learn more about the APA and their efforts in representing our industry.
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It’s Fireworks Season!! 2015 Pyro North Operator Seminar
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, March 28, 2015
The annual Pyrotechnic Personnel Training Seminar at Golden Hills Community Church is on Saturday, March 28th. The event details and map are listed below.
Questions? Please contact Evelina at 916-640-0173.
Please complete the form at the bottom of the screen to RSVP online.
Location:
Golden Hills Community Church
2401 Shady Willow Lane
Brentwood, CA 94513
Pyro North Operator Seminar Agenda | |
Time | Event |
9:00 – 9:30AM | REGISTRATION Linda McCurley & Evelina Kozachek |
9:30 – 10:00AM | WELCOME / OUR INDUSTRY / OUR COMPANY Ian Gilfillan & Jim Souza |
10:00 - 10:30AM | “YEARS OF SERVICE” AWARDS Jeff Thomas & Ian Gilfillan |
10:30 – 11:30AM | HAZ MAT HANDLING / HAZARD COMMUNICATION / GHS Kevin Gilfillan |
11:30AM - 12:30PM | LUNCH, CELEBRATE SAFELY & RAFFLE |
12:30 – 1:30PM | ONLINE TRAINING ROLLOUT Kevin Gilfillan |
1:30– 4:30PM | BREAK-OUT SESSIONS – CHOOSE TWO SESSIONS 1 Session: DRIVER TRAINING - 3 Hours (with 20 Minute Break) - Kevin Gilfillan |
4:30 – 5:00PM | “BEST TRUCK” AWARDS Zach Wetzel & John Hanson |
Preparations for New Year’s Eve Underway in SF
Orginal Article -- http://goo.gl/yxuQpu
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- On Wednesday evening, hundreds of thousands of people will pour into San Francisco to ring in the new year -- with a bang.
The city is bracing itself by preparing the fireworks and the police.
Just 15 minutes of fireworks requires days of preparation. "Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 to 5,000 devices that'll go off in a 15 minutes period of time," one man said.
Pyro Spectaculars by Souza loads the barges just steps away from where they set up on the Fourth of July.
But while that show is about dignity and patriotism, this one's a little different. "This is more elevation and big explosions and it's truly just a 15 minute rage of explosives," Pyro show producer Jeff Thomas said.
In the summer, there's fog and in the winter it's usually clear. "It's amazing sometimes when you see shots on YouTube days later of where people actually saw the show from. It's incredible how far away they can see it," one man said.
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But if you want the best view, there's only one place. "The Embarcadero Waterfront south of the Ferry Building is where a good vantage point to see the show," Thomas said.
With all that eye candy, the one thing you can count on out here is a big crowd. Officials are already setting up barricades and if you do plan to be out here pressed up against them in your winter coat, police have some things they'd like you to know. "We want to avoid any tragedies, so take public transportation, hire a car service, take taxis, ferries, whatever it may be, but just don't drink and drive," Ofc. Albie Esparza said.
Police will be on DUI patrol and writing tickets for public drinking.
The good news is there are options because BART will run until 3 a.m., Muni and Caltrain will be free.
Uber and Lyft will have extra cars on the road, though they could be expensive when demand is high.
And the taxi app Flywheel will offer a special promotion, offering $10 rides to go anywhere in the city.
"A lot of times with crowds, people are opportunistic and trying to you know steal someone's smartphone, or purse or wallet," Esparza said.
Police say go ahead and take pictures, especially of fireworks, just put your phone away when you're done.
Seattle’s Space Needle wrapped in fireworks for a New Year’s blast
Orginal Posting -- http://goo.gl/sZxgKK
SEATTLE (AP) — A fireworks crew worked in near-freezing temperatures under a blue sky Tuesday setting pyrotechnics on the Space Needle for the New Year's Eve show at the Seattle Center.
T-Mobile is sponsoring the eight-minute midnight show set to music.
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New Year's Eve parties are being held at the observation deck and the SkyCity restaurant on the 605-foot landmark of the 1962 World's Fair.
Organizers expect 20,000 people will ring in the new year on the Seattle Center grounds with 400,000 more watching the fireworks from surrounding neighborhoods and another half-million tuning in from home.
Gary Souza: The Explosive Career of a Fireworks Mastermind
A pyrotechnics wiz takes us behind the scenes at the 38th Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Show — for insight, history […]
Behind-the-scenes of the largest fireworks show in the U.S.
FOXBusiness.com’s Gabrielle Karol with the executive producer and designer of the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks show.
Grinchmas 2014 Kick-Off — Show Video
The annual tree lighting at Universal Studios Hollywood, with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti presiding. Orginal Location — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POG6p9gEdPc
2014 Baseball Winter Meeting
Get Excited!! Spectacular Fireworks Show During the Gala
Please join us on Wednesday, December 9th at 9PM for a spectacular fireworks show during the Winter Meeting Gala.
You don't want to miss this one!
2014 Pyro Spectaculars by Souza Highlight Reel
Highlights from our favorite shows throughout our history.
2014 Pyro Spectaculars Highlight Reel - Short Version
Highlights of the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary
Highlights of the epic fireworks spectacular fired on May 27, 2012 to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Riverside Festival of Lights Show Video
It's officially the holiday season!!! Check out The Riverside Festival of Lights at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. The show was beautiful and the crowd loved it! Thank you to our wonderful crew and sponsors! Happy Holidays!
Check out the video below!
Universal Studios Hollywood to commence its annual Grinchmas season with Mayor Eric Garcetti
Click Here for the Orginal Article.
Universal Studios Hollywood will usher in its annual “Grinchmas” holiday season today as Mayor Eric Garcetti tries his hand at Seussian rhyme while presenting a proclamation to Whoville Mayor Augustus Maywho and helping a host of Whos light the curving Whoville tree.
The Grinch — star of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” — will be on hand for the ceremonial event, along with his faithful antlered dog, Max, who will be portrayed over the 20-day run of “Grinchmas” by 11 dogs rescued from Los Angeles animal shelters.
“Spy Kids” actress Alexa PenaVega and her husband, Carlos PenaVega of “Big Time Rush,” will also take part in the event, as will actress Yvette Nicole Brown of “Community.” About 200 Los Angeles Unified School District students will also be brought to the ceremony.
The park’s “Grinchmas” attraction will open to the public Saturday and Sunday, and again Dec. 13-14. It will be open daily from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3.
The attraction features cookie- and ornament-decorating stations, story readings by Cindy Lou Who, photos with the Grinch and other Whoville denizens, musical performances, falling snow and the nightly lighting of the 60-foot twisting tree. Admission to the theme park provides access to the attraction.
Also during “Grinchmas,” riders on the park’s Studio Tour will get a view of sets used for the film “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” along with musical performances by the Whoville residents.
The attraction also includes a Whoville Post Office, which features a charitable “Grow Your Hearts 3 Sizes” campaign. Visitors can list their good deeds on a postcard they can mail to the Grinch. For each card sent, Random House Children’s Books will donate a book to a child in need, according to park executives.
RIVERSIDE: A Lum-Inn-escent DEBUT
Original Location -- http://www.pe.com/articles/inn-755271-lights-hotel.html
A sea of spectators – as many as 60,000, according to estimates by event officials – roared its approval as fireworks erupted from the roof of the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in downtown Riverside on Friday night and applauded the energizing of the 4 million LED lights festooning the historic landmark.
The cheers – accompanied by the amply amplified Christmas music – reverberated through the streets surrounding the hotel as the throng celebrated the kickoff of the Festival of Lights’ 22nd season.
For the crowd, it was actually a do-over. The hotel’s light bulbs were turned on briefly about 5 p.m., half an hour before the scheduled start of the event in an apparent test of the system. “Oohs” and “ahhs” burst from the crowd and more than 400 animated pandas, elves, angels and carolers mounted in nooks and crannies around the hotel sprang to life – only to be shut down moments later.
It was the only hitch in what turned out to be a spectacular show, featuring a performance by the Riverside City College marching band and an announcement that the band had been invited to perform at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on Jan. 1.
“It was phenomenal,” Larissa Chavez said of the event, which is one of the city’s biggest tourism draws. “The lights are beautiful.”
Valerie Salazar of Riverside watched the lighting ceremony for her third year.
“I thought it was awesome,” she said. “The fireworks were great. The band was awesome.”
The one difference, she said, was that she thought the ceremony was more crowded. But the fireworks show, which lasted nearly 15 minutes, was even better than prior years, Salazar insisted.
As the lights came on and the fireworks went off, the crowd in the streets seemed to be responding with a light show of its own. Smartphone lights and flashes flickered as visitors held up electronic devices to snap selfies and photos of the hotel.
The streets, especially in front of the inn, were jammed so tight that the crowd could not move. A handful of spectators watched from the roof of a parking structure a block away and photographers perched atop surrounding buildings.
Gloria Muro, 62, of Whittier said she was awestruck by the event.
She came to town Friday to visit a tamale factory and was handed a brochure touting the Festival of Lights when she was turned away from the factory. And, in a nice bit of out-of-towner luck, she wound up with a choice viewing spot in front of the hotel.
Margie Haupt, arts and cultural affairs manager for the city of Riverside, said 12 months of planning went into the logistics of shutting down seven streets in a three-block radius of ground zero, at Mission Inn Avenue and Orange Street, and arranging everything from the positioning of firefighters and police to a host of vendors.
Riverside came up with something new this year, she said: souvenir T-shirts being sold on Mission Inn Avenue for $20.
In the middle of it all was Mission Inn owner Duane Roberts, who mounted a platform and thanked the crowd for turning out.
The festival “increases Riverside’s influence,” he said, “but more than all, everybody is able to enjoy it. This is Disneyland without to having pay (for) a ticket.”
The show goes on nightly through Jan. 6, with live carolers making the rounds of the inn Thursdays to Sundays and the ice rink open through Jan. 3. Reindeer will be on site beginning today and will be housed in a pen on Main Street at what Mission Inn sales director Shannon Walters described as a “looking, rather than petting, zoo.”
Santa will pose for photographs starting Sunday through Christmas Eve.
Contact the writer: dsantschi@pe.com or 951-368-9079
Congratulations to the 2014 World Champion SF Giants!!
Congratulations to the San Fransisco Giants on winning the 2014 World Series!
We are proud to be your official firework partner!