PGI 2021 Highlights

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Just got back from the PGI convention on Saturday. This year we were in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo is a great place for pyro, but not a great place to visit. They have 8K people collecting unemployment checks, and 20K job openings. The manager at our hotel worked 40 days in a row. The lady at the IHOP was on day 31 in a row. We had 12 people show up at the Subway for lunch, and the only person working was the manager. It's really crazy.

It was nice to be back in Fargo with my PGI pyro pals. Especially after missing 2020 due to covid. It was windy every day. So much so we had to cancel Saturday's show because it was just too windy to continue. On the "C" line it felt like we were getting sandblasted most days. The dirt was so dry it was like fine sand or dust and with 20-35mph winds, it got into everything. But the shows went on anyway!! Most days were in the 80's. It went down to 55F one night, and it was 92F the next day. Just nuts for a guy from Florida.

The big players for shows were Casabella, J&M, AM, Big Sky, and Rozzi's Famous Fireworks. For me personally, the Casabella show had many in tears, as Jerry Casabella announced that he was shooting the show as a tribute to his wife that had just lost her fight with cancer back in June of 2021. It was a beautiful show and I'm sure she was proud. The other vendors put on fine displays. Rozzi did the Grand Public Display to close out the convention, and their show was terrific.

This year I decided to up my game and I built a 6" double petal ball shell. It performed as expected and I was very pleased.

I didn't record the Class C shows or the individual shell competitions as I just didn't have the time or energy. Starting the day at 8am and not getting to bed until 2-2:30am every day takes it's toll on this old man.

So without further adieu, here are the videos!

Opening Night Fireball (Skip to 3:50 mark to avoid the babble)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeLCn8k_2PI

Casabella Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCuKdO5cPww

Big Sky Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J01ZtarcnKc

AM Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5UyslFR4sU

J&M Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih_Gm0ryLUQ

Rozzi's Famous Fireworks Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pR7DOJYFeE



Enjoy the videos!!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Just because I'm proud of myself, I'm including my 6" shell video. :cool:

My 6" Double Petal Ball Shell!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrNkQAr88aM

[Okimarine]

Thanks for sharing the videos and experience. I've watched them all except Rozzi's which I will get to later.

Great job on the shell too. I'm assuming you used already pressed or rolled stars? Also, did they have a wasp or something similar for taping?

[Firelinx]

That's pretty awesome! We were there too and one of our team members built and fired their first shell too. :)

We streamed most of the shows too on our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/firelinxpyro/) account!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Thanks for sharing the videos and experience. I've watched them all except Rozzi's which I will get to later.

Great job on the shell too. I'm assuming you used already pressed or rolled stars? Also, did they have a wasp or something similar for taping?

Thanks. Yes... We used already made stars. It was a two day class. Day one we made the shell. Day two we attached the lift-charge cup and fused it. Not very time consuming, but a lot of fun. As members of the safety team we got to skip to the front of the line so we could get back to our "safety team" duties quickly.

The guys that hosted the seminar did all the taping after we created the shell. So that was all done for us by time we showed up day 2 to fuse it. I would have liked to have seen how it was done to be honest. But I also understand that with all those people it's really not practical to let everyone do their own.

Next year I'm building a rocket.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

That's pretty awesome! We were there too and one of our team members built and fired their first shell too. :)

We streamed most of the shows too on our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/firelinxpyro/) account!

I did a facetime call with my daughter and granddaughter during 4F so she could see a little of what PGI is all about. They loved the big salutes going off in the background. My granddaughter has already decided that she's going next year so she can set off her own fireworks. We shall see.

[Schooter4]

Where is PGI going to be next year?

[topshelfpyro]

Where is PGI going to be next year?

Newton, Iowa

It's pretty awesome, this was my first year going.

[displayfireworks1]

Rick I am no longer a member of the PGI but I have to say, it pleases me to see you enjoy it so much. I am also shocked to see topshelfpyro mention a new location for next years PGI convention. I thought it would be Fargo , Gillette rinse lather repeat forever.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Rick I am no longer a member of the PGI but I have to say, it pleases me to see you enjoy it so much. I am also shocked to see topshelfpyro mention a new location for next years PGI convention. I thought it would be Fargo , Gillette rinse lather repeat forever.

Dave - I do love it. Mostly because of the big shows all week. Sitting that close to that much pyro is really exhilarating for me. The fact that I'm on the safety team and work the C line is a bonus. I love all the behind the scenes stuff that regular members don't get to see, and I love the traveling to places that, if not for the PGI, I would have never seen. My buddy wanted to attend the "business meeting" this year. I told him absolutely not. I have absolutely no desire to listen to a bunch of people whining and complaining about everything under the sun. I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of the inner workings of the guild. I prefer to just play with pyro.

This year was supposed to be Oshkosh. Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the lawyers for the site made it impossible for us to use their location. The word I got is, Newton is an old NHRA site, and they are hurting for tourism dollars. So they were eager to jump at the chance to host PGI. After we're there for a week blowing the place up, we'll see if they're eager to invite us back! I did notice there is a small municipal airport right next door. It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out with our rockets and large shells. Two blocks down the road is their county jail. So this should prove to be a very interesting convention.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

The one knock I do have is the afterglow on Monday's. It's always just peanuts and pretzels. No real food. Apparently that's an old PGI tradition. Once that I would vote to do away with! They also closed at 1am this year. The same time we shut down the C line. So we had to send someone over to pick up dinner for the team before hand. Which meant we had to eat while babysitting the C line. I prefer to take the food back to the hotel and eat once everything is shut down for the night. Oh well...

[Firelinx]

Just got back from the PGI convention on Saturday. This year we were in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo is a great place for pyro, but not a great place to visit. They have 8K people collecting unemployment checks, and 20K job openings. The manager at our hotel worked 40 days in a row. The lady at the IHOP was on day 31 in a row. We had 12 people show up at the Subway for lunch, and the only person working was the manager. It's really crazy.

It was nice to be back in Fargo with my PGI pyro pals. Especially after missing 2020 due to covid. It was windy every day. So much so we had to cancel Saturday's show because it was just too windy to continue. On the "C" line it felt like we were getting sandblasted most days. The dirt was so dry it was like fine sand or dust and with 20-35mph winds, it got into everything. But the shows went on anyway!! Most days were in the 80's. It went down to 55F one night, and it was 92F the next day. Just nuts for a guy from Florida.

The big players for shows were Casabella, J&M, AM, Big Sky, and Rozzi's Famous Fireworks. For me personally, the Casabella show had many in tears, as Jerry Casabella announced that he was shooting the show as a tribute to his wife that had just lost her fight with cancer back in June of 2021. It was a beautiful show and I'm sure she was proud. The other vendors put on fine displays. Rozzi did the Grand Public Display to close out the convention, and their show was terrific.

This year I decided to up my game and I built a 6" double petal ball shell. It performed as expected and I was very pleased.

I didn't record the Class C shows or the individual shell competitions as I just didn't have the time or energy. Starting the day at 8am and not getting to bed until 2-2:30am every day takes it's toll on this old man.

So without further adieu, here are the videos!

Opening Night Fireball (Skip to 3:50 mark to avoid the babble)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeLCn8k_2PI

Casabella Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCuKdO5cPww

Big Sky Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J01ZtarcnKc

AM Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5UyslFR4sU

J&M Pyrotechnics Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih_Gm0ryLUQ

Rozzi's Famous Fireworks Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pR7DOJYFeE



Enjoy the videos!!

You got some great footage of all the shows this year!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Thanks Firelinx. I try to capture as much as I can so I and everyone else can enjoy the fruits of many a pyro's labor.