Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.For the second straight year, Tony Lasauskas drove to Papillion in the hope of ringing in the new year with loud explosions and beautiful bright colors.
Around midnight Saturday — barring bad weather — about a dozen family members and friends plan to set off a small fireworks display in front of his home near 180th and Harrison Streets.
He has been enthused about the recent unseasonably warm weather, though the forecast for Saturday afternoon calls for a chance of rain, and brisk winds Saturday night. But whatever the weather, Lasauskas will be happy to be home with his family.
Lasauskas didn't mind waiting behind other customers when he bought fireworks at Bellino Fireworks Inc.'s 72nd Street and Giles Road location on Friday.
"I think it's kind of a cool way to celebrate the new year," he said. "We'll have four or five different things to shoot off. It will be a short little celebration."
Don Bellino said sales at his two locations fared much better Thursday and Friday compared with last year, when frigid weather inhibited shoppers.
Starting in 2010, the Legislature allowed fireworks to be sold and discharged during a three-day period for the New Year's holiday, with local approval.
Twenty-eight retailers in the state are licensed for New Year's sales, down from 41 last year. In the Omaha vicinity, the five communities selling fireworks are Papillion, Gretna, Waterloo, Springfield and Eagle.
Bellino's stands will be open again Saturday from 8 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. His other stand is near 84th Street and Giles Road.
"The initial sales have been good," Bellino said. "Last year it was just real terrible, terrible weather.
"We're almost like a farmer. You have got to really rely on Mother Nature. We're cautiously optimistic that we're going to have a good season."
Dave Hancock of Papillion said he will head out Saturday to buy fireworks at one of Bellino's stands.
Hancock said he tried to shoot off a few fireworks last year, but quickly went indoors because it was so cold.
This year he hopes to be outdoors about an hour.
"We'll try to go right up until midnight, and then we'll end with a big finale."
He planned to spend "some good money" buying large explosives.
"I love the Fourth of July," Hancock said. "It's my favorite holiday, and it's a great family time, so I figure this is like having another Fourth of July."
Evan Peters, tent manager for Gretna's fireworks stand, called retail sales "steady" the past two days.
The Gretna Chamber of Commerce operates a heated indoor stand at the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 6 and Nebraska Highway 370. The stand will be open Saturday.
The profits are used to help finance Gretna Days.
"It's still all new," Peters said. "It may take a couple years for people to get accustomed to it."
Many customers are spending $20 to $50, Peters said, but a few have spent $150 to $200.
"There are some true pyro people," he said. "They're feeding their addiction."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
