Nov. 16 – A weeklong fireworks convention that proved a success in Newton in 2022 will not return in 2025, even after representatives from the Pyrotechnics Guild International scouted the proposed location. Randy Ervin, chairman of the PGI Newton Committee, is extremely disappointed that it couldn’t work out.
While there is still a slim chance the city could host the convention, Ervin told Newton News that uncertainties with who owns the land needed to put off the fireworks have hindered any real progress. The event, he said, would have provided Jasper County with more than $3 million in economic impact.
During the November 4 city council meeting, a number of residents spoke out against the event. The council then approved a resolution allowing the use of city parks and land north of the cemetery for camping areas and event space. However, city property would not be used to set off fireworks.
There was expected to be a backlash, and Ervin was confident in advance that the event would indeed be noisy. While he understood that noise was a major concern, for him the economic benefits it brought to the city far outweighed the loud bangs residents would hear from far away for a week. Most council members felt the same way.
While Ervin certainly wanted Newton to host another BGA event, the BGA board apparently did as well. When the board first approached the city about hosting it again, Ervin said he talked to Iowa Speedway about hosting it again, but it didn’t fit the track’s calendar. So Ervin told PGI it couldn’t work.
But PGI board members started calling Ervin and saying they really wanted to come back to Newton. It was a fun time, they said, and the city was great. So the PGI Newton Committee scouted locations and settled on a plot of farmland north of the city’s softball complex.
It seemed to fit well with the BGA and met the requirements for precipitation zones and noise zones. The first conversations with the farmer who worked the land were also a good sign. Ervin later encountered some resistance from another party that controls the country, but after some discussion made some progress.
Ervin contacted the owner in Oklahoma, who initially indicated he was not interested, but again took steps to convince them to host the site. When Ervin recently revisited the country, he saw a house being built near one of the main rainfall areas. That turned out to be a problem.
Along with the undecided landowners and the BGA board, who were up against their own deadlines, Ervin told them at the time that he could make no firm commitment that the city could host the convention. Ervin said he feels terrible about it and feels like he has let the city down.
“I’m not making a cent on this thing,” he said. “I do it because I love the people of Newton. We scared away $3 million.”
When the 2022 BGA Convention was held at the Iowa Speedway, several restaurants and retailers reported huge sales. The weeklong event was a great boon to the city. Ervin said when he spoke to the owners of Uncle Nancy’s Coffee House that it was their best week ever.
“That hurts me the most,” he said. “I was trying to do something really good for the city. And it just didn’t work.”
