Annual fireworks show a hit among young and old

The annual Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce fireworks show went off with a bang on Sunday night in Portales with a variety of colors and music.

Portales and county residents lined West University Drive across from Eastern New Mexico University practice field, the hill at ENMU Greyhound Arena and U.S. 70 trying to find a spot to watch the show.

Chris Bronson and his wife Sarah were leaning against their vehicle while watching the show. Bronson said he has been coming to the show for years.

“It was cool,” said Bronson. “I love Independence Day, the Fourth of July. I’m a former soldier so this is for our fallen soldiers.”

The fireworks display was put on by Stonebraker Fireworks company of Roswell and Colorado. Pyrotechnician Mike Rohrbacher of Roswell shot off the fireworks, which were synchronized to music.

“I really liked the grand finally,” Sarah Bronson said. “It was a great show and the music made it so much better.”

The music played included “The Star Spangled Banner,” “God Bless the U.S.A.,” and other country songs and military songs. Roosevelt County Sheriff Darren Hooker said it was the best show ever.

“The Army songs stuck out the most,” he said. “It was an awesome show and for small town America you can’t go wrong with that.”

The chamber set out to raise money for the fireworks this year after falling short $1,000 last year. The community and local business worked together to raise money for the fireworks and went over their goal by $2,000. This gave Portales and county residents a full five minutes extra to the show.

Paul and Carey Kiekel both from Portales were watching the show with their family and friends near West University Drive. This was Paul’s first year being able to see the fireworks. Paul said they were excellent.

“We sat as close as we could get... it was just beautiful,” he said. “It was so much better then going to Clovis.”