The Greenbrier Shopping Center parking lot might not be such a good place to watch Bel Air's fireworks. We watched them from this spot near the Safeway last year and returned again this year after failing to locate anywhere closer to the launching site at Rockfield Park. When the show started at 9:30, we found the fireworks hard to see from our location behind the building that houses the Long & Foster real estate agency. We tossed our folding chairs back into the trunk of the minivan and walked to a better position in the lot. Our view was less obstructed, but the fireworks seemed low in the sky and quite far away. We weren't close enough to hear the kinds of earth rattling booms that usually make my 5-year-old nervous. The traffic in the lot was a little scary as well. There were quite a few cars moving through the crowded lot during the show and there were a lot of kids sitting on the ground or walking around. We saw a couple of close calls. It looked like the folks sitting on the hill in front of John Carroll High School might have had a better view. But you have to go early to get in there before police close off the entrance to the school's parking lot.
One BANV reader shared his or her views on tonight's fireworks in the comments to a previous post. Click here to read it.
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In response to the comment you mentioned...the show was not as good as what Bel Air used to present but it sure was better than last years!!
We came in in from the back of John Carroll, from Linwood Ave. and sat on the athletic fields behind the old "nunnery". We had a pretty good view...missed some really low stuff but generally it was a good spot.
We are still trying to figure out how they expect everyone to get a good view from this location. The old spot was PERFECT and we really miss it. I grew up in Bel Air and did the day events, parade, socializing, listening to the patriotic music, fireworks, etc since the 70's. Sitting in the middle of John Carroll field practically by ourselves just wasn't the same!!
The old spot was indeed perfect (for fireworks) but the Board of Ed won't allow it to be used any more -- this of course started in 2007 and can be expected to stay that way, even after the new High School is completed. It took the Independence Day Committee about 6 months of hard work in 2007 to find a spot to shoot from -- Rockfield may not be the best site (it sure isn't, for many reasons), but it's the best that was possible. In my non-professional opinion, last night's (July 4, 2008) display was terrific -- maybe one of the best ever -- but a lot depended on how close you were. I was in the swale right by the Mansion -- where Bel Air holds its pumpkin festival. This was quite close AND downwind, so my family and I got the FULL benefit of deafening booms and cracks -- very impressive. If you were watching from, say St. Matthew's Lutheran or the Greenbriar Shopping Center, although the view was good the sound would have been much less. Also, due to the proximity of the neighborhoods to the immediate NORTH of the shoot site, the licensing authorities (and in order to shoot fireworks legally approval must be received from at least 5 different authorities, including the local and state fire marshals) mandated smaller shells -- less than half the size that used to be used in bygone years before the federal regulations all were changed. That's probably why some people may have thought the display was "lower" than in previous years, although personally I didn't see it that way (I got a stiff neck anyhow from looking up) but, again, I was pretty close. I don't know how distant you could see them - in the old days of 8-inch shells, people could sit on decks in Forest Hill and see them in the air over Bel Air High School -- but those days are long gone. Also, the rain certainly "put out" some of the trailing effects, making it seem as if the individual shells "burnt out" sooner, and the low clouds meant that smoke obscured things (although that looks cool from some angles).
I guess you can tell by my info that I'm on the Independence Day Committee, although I don't have anything to do with the fireworks, so on that subject, at least, I'm unbiased!
In any event, it was interesting to sit and see all the other stuff going up in the air from all over, and then to see the "real" show. There was a bunch over near Amyclae, I think, that was "almost" professional in quality and size; there were some others from Fountain Green area, too, that looked like some people had spent some money. Of course, every single display or shell up in the air was illegal, with the exception of the official Bel Air fireworks -- but what do you expect?
The Bel Air fireworks this year were terrible. Someone setting off illegal fireworks in a community behind ours had a much better display. We can see the BA fireworks from our front porch but the people behind us were so much better that we sat on our deck instead to watch theirs.
I have to agree that my family was very disappointed in this year's Bel Air fireworks, too.
I understand that the new location was needed, but it's clearly not working. If the best place to watch is from a parking lot, there is something wrong. The committee gave the community NO suggestions for places to watch the fireworks -perhaps because there are no good places. If the county is worried about liability, they should consider the dangers of having people line up along Churchville Road, with children steps from danger, not to mention the parking lot dangers already mentioned.
Many people left after the start because the show was so disappointing (everyone in little lot where we parked abandoned it mid-show)
The true spirit of the day can only be accomplished by gathering the community together in one central location for fireworks. I miss the music, the oohs and ahhs of the crowd.
I strongly urge the committee to find a better location. How about the new Patterson Mill HS complex? Or even at HCC. How about the Ripken Stadium? To me, it's less important that the fireworks be held in BelAir proper than it is to serve the needs of the people of Bel Air. If the bank is the sponsor, they serve all of HC, so the location shouldn't matter.
If this can't be accomplished, I'd rather the sponsors save their money or spend it on another program. Nobody got anything out of this year's show.
JM
The comittee will NEVER allow the FW to leave the Town proper. It was suggested before that the Equestrian Center on Tollgate would be an excellent compromise-no dice...
Next year, try parking at Greenbrier SS, and walking up the sidewalk to JCHS. There was plenty of space to the west of the Conservatory (even some trees to shelter from the drizzle), and the FW were right in front of you, albeit behind a line of trees...
Why can't the equestrian center be a location? The farm fair has a great fireworks display there - you can see them from Annie's playground, from the equestrian center, etc. So if it can be done for the farm fair, why not the 4th?
I have to agree with previous posters, the fireworks have been terrible since the location changed. It seemed like all the fireworks looked like the same type and colors. There was not much variation and we couldn't even tell if the grand finale was really the finale. It was short, and not very spectacular at all.
Plus we were in a parking lot where there were no police monitoring the traffic so it was mayhem leaving.
I have spent my life going to the fireworks at bel air high school, and the 4th of july just hasn't been the same since they moved.
You all cry about development (Kohl's)and whine about the fireworks. Why don't you pack your bags and move back inside the beltway?
I get so frustrated with you folks that are never satisfied with you life, your surroundings and your community.
Bel Air is a wonderful place, has been for many years longer than you transplants have been here and will remain as such long after you leave.
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Bel Air Native (5th Generation)
It is the BEL AIR fireworks and Parade,NOT the HARFORD fireworks and Parade. Unfortunately, as things build up, there becomes less and less space to hold and event like the fireworks within the town evn as the town has expanded it's borders. Thanks, developers.
Harford native
Hey 5th Generation Bel Air Native! If it wasn't for us "Bel Air Transplants", the parade would be one school band, 2 fire trucks and an old car from the Texaco Station. People would still be driving past Betsy going "Moooo" and the fireworks would be farmer Bill lighting off a stick of dynamite left over from removing tree stumps. :-)
Ahhh yes. The good old days. I'll help you pack Ed.
To Ed.....thoses days sound wonderful. Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you on your way back to Dundalk.
With fondness,
5th Generation.
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