Fireworks: Day 7

Done.

Sales? Picked up at end, but weaker than last year.

Weather? Hot, hot, hot today, but better on average than the previous 4 years.

Volunteers? Better than ever before in numbers, attitude, eagerness to serve, and wilingness to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Sometimes I think we do the fireworks booth for the money, to help with camp scholarships and ministry needs. But then I realize that the greatest investment may be the hours I spend sittin' out under the sun chatting with people from our church. And eternally speakin', that's a better investment than anything with a dollar sign.

Peace out.

Fireworks: Day 6

Well, today finally felt like a "real" fireworks booth day. We did great business throughout the day, especially in the evening. It was hot outside, I didn't put on any sunscreen, and now I'm sunburned!

Oh, and we had three suspicious brush fires on the back of our campus tonight! A fourth fire happened in the adjoining apartment complex, and I'm convinced they were all the handiwork of 1 or 2 people.

I might not sleep well tonight thinking about the brush fires, but I'm so tired that I hafta head home or else I'll fall asleep right here at my computer. Night, all!

Fireworks: Day 5

I sure hope tomorrow and Wednesday are busy, busy days. We had a good day today -- but we had the kinda sales we SHOULD have had back on Saturday or Sunday. I hate overanalyzing these things, but I'm totally perplexed by this year's sales pattern. Maybe because the Fourth is a Wednesday...few people get three- or four-day weekends, so everyone's waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to buy. I hope so. But that means I gotta brace for two slammin' days.

Fireworks: Day 4

Wow, what a crazy day. We had good services in the morning, two great food events for the congregation, and then an awesome evening meeting for our worship team.

Oh yea, we sold some fireworks, too...but nowhere near as many as we should have on our fourth day.

Supertired now. Headin' to bed. Praying for lots of customers in the final 3 days!

Fireworks: Day 3

Not a superbusy day, but we DID sell our huge $500 assortment. That was pretty cool. Other than that, a few purchases here and there. Great conversation and interaction with the volunteers at the booth, and that's always fun. But a long, long day; was up at 7AM for an 8AM coffee meeting, then the booth from 10AM until 9:30PM. Managed to get more sun than I wanted, so my face is kinda glowing tonight.

Tomorrow has a nice, strong lineup of volunteers, so I should be able to break away at some point. Our BBQ after church may bring in more customers, too!

Fireworks: Day 2

Perhaps we aren't selling as many fireworks as I'd like, but I definitely won't complain about the first two days of weather! It's been pleasant cool all day, with lovely evening breezes. This evening, some of our volunteers even grabbed sweatshirts and blankets during our long breaks between customers.

I wonder: Do people wait to buy fireworks until it FEELS like fireworks season? The temperatures will remain pleasant all weekend but should start rising next week. We might even break 100 degrees by the Fourth of July. I'm not eager for heat, but if it takes heat to bring out the customers...

Fireworks: Day 1

Slow start to the fireworks booth. Didn't open until the afternoon. Warm day but nice breeze kept things tolerable. Only a few sales. Maybe slowest first day ever for me. But full weekend ahead. Lots of volunteers lined up. Lots of stuff to sell. Lots of fun to be had! But maybe few blog entries because of my insane schedule for the next six days. We'll see.

The joy of fireworks.

It ain't the Fourth of July yet, but my mind's afixed on fireworks.

Tonight is our annual meeting with our fireworks company and the county firefighters where we are subjected to the same list of rules, policies, and procedures that we hear every year before selling fireworks.

We can't begin selling until June 28, but I guess tonight's event gets my mind focused on this wonderful annual madness. In some parts of California, you can't sell any kind of fireworks. We get 7 days out of the year here to sell "safe and sane" fireworks. "Wimpy and limited" would be another accurate description.

But it's a great fund-raiser for our youth ministry, it gives parents and other adults a place to connect, and it's usually a great avenue for attracting some new volunteers each year.

Tonight's event? Ugh. But I'm hanging with some cool people from our church, so that makes it all worthwhile. They're serving food, too, but it's at a new venue so I don't know how good it will be this time. We'll see!