Tim DeFazio still remembers the cell phone ringing four years ago. The incoming call was from Bridgeport Police Deputy Chief Randy Hartley – and it wasn’t anything of a negative nature.

 

“When I answered Randy told me ‘we were right. This is a home run.’ He was a right and it’s been a home run every year,” said DeFazio, the general manager of WDTV and WVFX.

 

The “this” that was a “home run” that night roughly four years ago was the first-ever Independence Day Fireworks Show. And DeFazio confirmed earlier this week that it’s returning to the area.

 

According to DeFazio, the event sponsored by the stations owned now by Gray TV out of Atlanta along with the Greater Bridgeport Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Harrison County EMS and the North Central West Virginia Airport, will sponsor this year’s event. The Fourth Annual Independence Day Fireworks Show will take place this year July 1, which is a Friday evening.

 

DeFazio also said that the starting time has been set. The event will take place at 10 p.m. with the fireworks once again being set off on the hill behind K-Mart, near the City of Bridgeport water tower.

 

For the first three years of the event, the areas at Eastpointe, Newpointe, the Home Depot Plaza, Gabriel’s Plaza and beyond have been filled with cars that take in the show. DeFazio helped bring the show to the area as a reminder of the fireworks shows that had been put on for years at the former Hill’s Plaza (where Home Depot is now). Because of that, he said he was confident the event would be a hit.

 

“To be honest with you I thought it would be a success just because of how it was when we were growing up. It was always such a big thing to go out on the hill for the Fourth of July. I still can remember cars lined up everywhere,” said DeFazio.

 

That very well could be the case again. Each year, the event has drawn larger crowds including many individuals that tailgate and make the event last for several hours.

 

“In the last several days we’ve had more than 30 calls wanting to know if we’re doing it and we’ve been able to tell them that we are,” said DeFazio.

 

For those wondering why the event is taking place on Friday, three days prior to July 4, DeFazio said it was a somewhat easy decision.

 

“The fourth falls on a Monday and you would have people leaving the event late in the evening or missing it that had to go back to work the next morning and we were aware of events already scheduled on July 2 and July 3,” he said. “We look at the calendar of events because we don’t want to be in conflict with another event that may be doing something for revenue. We definitely don’t want to interfere with that.”

 

An even easier decision was to begin the event four years ago. It started in a conference room at WDTV and was then made even less cumbersome with Hartley and Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker offered their support, DeFazio said.

 

“I talked to Randy, who right away said he thought it would be a home run, and then he said he’d work with getting the city’s fire department involved and Chief Walker said he’d talk to the Clarksburg Police about assisting and it just took off from there,” said DeFazio. “We’ve had great cooperation from both Bridgeport and Clarksburg.”

 

As has been the case in the past, traffic control and other assistance will be provided by local agencies from Bridgeport and Clarksburg, DeFazio said. Despite the large crowds, problems have been non-existent at best or minimal at worst.

 

Editor's Note: File photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.