West Haven Voice

West Haven’s only independent news source - By and For West Haven

Fireworks ‘Lit up the night’

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Rockets explode over Bradley Point in a shower of red, white and blue sparks at the Savin Rock Fireworks Spectacular on July 3. The 20-minute pyrotechnic show, presented by the Savin Rock Fireworks Committee, was held on July 3 for the first time since 2019.
Logan McCauley, 8, waves to the crowd as longtime city resident Lois Doerr prepares to launch the fireworks from a portable stage in front of Savin Rock. Doerr, 90, won a raffle to flip a light switch to set off the fireworks.
Mayor Dorinda Borer greets the crowd and introduces party rock band Absofunkinlutely on the Savin Rock stage.
Absofunkinlutely performs a two-hour set of party rock hits before the fireworks.
The festive crowd at the Savin Rock stage as the sun sets.
Food and dessert trucks dish up eats and sweets to hungry customers in the westbound lane of Captain Thomas Boulevard, near Dyke Street. Police closed Captain Thomas Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, from Kelsey Avenue to South Street, for several hours to give the festivities a block party vibe.

By Michael P. Walsh

Special to the Voice

Longtime Westie Lois Doerr and her 8-year-old helper, Logan McCauley, flipped a light switch to launch the Savin Rock Fireworks Spectacular on July 3.

The moment Doerr and McCauley flipped the switch, fireworks blasted off Bradley Point and exploded over Long Island Sound, dazzling thousands of patriotic revelers, many wearing red, white and blue, along West Haven’s 3 miles of public beaches with a display of brilliant lighting and booming sound effects.

The 20-minute pyrotechnic show, presented by the Savin Rock Fireworks Committee, was held on July 3 for the first time since 2019. Last year’s display was postponed from July 3 to July 5 because of thunderstorms.

Doerr, 90, a West Haven Historical Society board member and an ardent fireworks supporter, and McCauley were joined onstage in front of the city’s prominent Savin Rock landmark by Mayor Dorinda Borer and radio personality Brian Smith, the master of ceremonies.

Doerr recently won the committee’s “Light Up the Night” raffle fundraiser to flip the switch to set off the fireworks, billed as “They Will Be Heard on the 3rd.”

Before turning it over to Smith, Doerr and McCauley, Borer welcomed the Savin Rock crowd and thanked the city’s Public Works, Police and Fire departments, as well as fireworks committee members, including co-Chairwomen Sandy McCauley and Marianne Drapeau, for helping to organize the large-scale event.

Smith then led the crowd in a spirited countdown before Doerr and Logan McCauley, who is Sandy McCauley’s grandson, flipped the switch and triggered an assortment of rockets that flew and burst over Bradley Point in a shower of colored sparks.

Before the fireworks went off with a bang, families and friends danced to party rock hits performed by Absofunkinlutely on the Savin Rock stage.

As the music played, seven food and dessert trucks dished up eats and sweets on Captain Thomas Boulevard, near Dyke Street, and Ocean Avenue, near Dawson Avenue.

Police closed Captain Thomas Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, from Kelsey Avenue to South Street, for several hours to give the festivities a block party vibe.

The fireworks show is the city’s largest one-day event, attracting tens of thousands of residents and visitors to the West Haven shoreline each year.