What started off as a sluggish weekend for firework sales turned
into a year that might have beat last’s, at least for the Gilroy
High School Quarterback Club.
What started off as a sluggish weekend for firework sales turned into a year that might have beat last’s, at least for the Gilroy High School Quarterback Club.
The booth was quiet Friday morning, but Club President Tony Travis said he knew the calm wouldn’t last for long. Travis, whose two sons will be seniors next year, knew the drill: the big sales roll in late. The Quarterback Club did almost 80 percent of its $30,000 in gross sales on Saturday and Sunday, said Club Treasurer Bill Guenther, whose son David will also be a senior. The club managed to sell all but a few hundred dollars worth of merchandise, which it will return to the supplier for a full refund.
“Every year, the third and fourth are, by far, the biggest selling days,” Guenther said.
Of those sales, the club will likely take home about $12,000 to $13,000, said Guenther, who spent the weekend manning the booth with other players and parents. Getting fresh faces to sign up is always a challenge.
“It’s really hard to get parents involved,” he said. “It’s the same parents over and over.”
Historically the club’s biggest fundraiser, firework sales help keep many other local nonprofits up and running. The proceeds from the club’s firework sales account for about 25 percent of their annual fundraising efforts. That money pays for team camps, meals and gear.
“If they took this booth away from us, it would be a tremendous hardship,” said Travis, decked out in a blue-and-gold Mustang jersey. “We wouldn’t be able to sponsor the kids.”
The Quarterback Club runs one of the 16 city-sanctioned fireworks booths and has been at least as far back as the 1980s, said Tim Fortino, whose son, Niko, plays quarterback. Dad also played for GHS when he was in high school. The selection of fireworks at their booth was a bit more exciting back then, Fortino remembered.
These days, each of the booths stocks a similar selection of “safe and sane” fireworks that can be used inside the city limits from July 1st through the 4th. It’s the sparkling personalities at each of the booths that set them apart. From quarterbacks to Pop Warner cheerleaders to those donating their time on behalf of Victory Outreach, the volunteers return faithfully to help raise money for their organizations and new ones sign up every year.
“It really is for the kids,” said Janae Chapa, whose 9-year-old son plays Pop Warner football.
The fireworks cost anywhere from a few dollars for a pack of sparklers to more than $500 for the Big Bang, a six-foot tall box packed with pyrotechnic goodies. Excited to have already sold one of the Big Bangs by Friday morning, David Vanni, who volunteered at the Gilroy Elks booth, didn’t have past years’ sales as a guide – this is the club’s first selling fireworks.
He and fellow Elk, Jerry Everman, agreed that allowing Gilroy to continue hosting firework sales benefits both the residents, who get to enjoy festive fireworks displays, and many local community groups who benefit from the proceeds. This past spring, the local Elks Club gave away about $6,000 in college scholarships to graduating seniors in the area as a result of their fundraising efforts.
“Gilroy’s going to have fireworks anyway,” Everman said. “We might as well sell them here to benefit the community.”
After the booths closed Sunday night, Bill Strickland, chairman of the Elk’s board of trustees, said he was very pleased with the sales, though he said he preferred not to give exact figures.
“We’re always in need of funds, for our lodge and our charities,” he said. “We hope to do it again and expect it to be a wonderful thing.”
