Quick Action by City Staff Saves Fireworks Display

Longtime and well-known radio journalist Paul Harvey began his career in broadcasting with a segment titled, “The Rest of the Story.” 

In 1976, Harvey signed with ABC Radio, carrying on his coverage of the day’s news, and closing his presentations with a snippet of information that was not generally known. Harvey would highlight a historical event and the involvement of someone special, or share a fact not known by the general public. He would then end with the quote, “And now you know, the rest of the story.” 

On June 26, the City of Marco Island received an email from Expo Shows, Inc. stating that it would no longer be able to fulfill its contract with the City of Marco Island to supply fireworks for the July 4th celebration. 

Immediately, city staff, which included the City Manager’s office, Recreation Director Samantha Malloy and Fire Marshall Jennifer Pierce, sprang into action. They worked on the logistics, searching for an alternative supplier so that the much-anticipated Independence Day fireworks display could still take place.

On Tuesday, June 28 at around 3 PM, city staff received word from Pyrotecnico Fireworks, Inc. that they would enter a contract to provide fireworks to the city. The company, which has been in business for 125 years, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a location in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

That same day, City Manager Mike McNees directed City Clerk Mike Sheffield to post a public notice giving 24 hours’ notice for an Emergency Council Meeting to obtain approval of the contract with Pyrotecnico.

A very relaxed and proud City Manager appeared before council that afternoon, for the 4:30 PM meeting, to report on his team’s successful resolution of the issue, which could have been a major disappointment to both residents and visitors.

Pyrotecnico provided Marco Island with the same show at the same cost as was set forth in the contract with the original supplier.

Now to the “Paul Harvey Moment” of this story. That moment came when the City Manager opened the meeting and revealed that his Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather was American Founding Father, Thomas Stone, the third signer of the Declaration of Independence. More widely known is John Hancock, the first to sign the document. Besides being Manager McNees’ ancestor, Stone was a delegate for the State of Maryland. In addition to being the third signatory on the Declaration of Independence, Stone also worked on the committee that formed the Articles of Confederation in 1777. 

“And now you know the rest of the story.”