Family Fireworks Business Sparks Community Spirit
Above, Julie Terry (left), of Terry's Family Fireworks in Purdy, helps customer Mercedes Harris (right) fill her basket.
June 30
Sheila Harris
Terry Family Fireworks in Purdy began 11 years ago as any number of other fireworks stands in the area, with seasonal fireworks purveyed from a pop-up tent in a vacant lot. The Terry Family, though, has taken that simple concept and created something which has exploded in popularity and added vitality to a community where the local grocery store recently bowed out.
Their annual 4th of July gathering (held on the 3rd) now draws hundreds - if not tens of hundreds - of people from surrounding communities. Many come early and gather on lawn chairs to eat the hot dog meals that are served, to listen to the live music on tap and to socialize.
While the spirit of community is prevalent among picnickers, when evening shadows begin to lengthen, the population of Purdy appears to double before one’s eyes. A steady stream of vehicles - most of them loaded with children - pours into town and drivers fill every available parking spot for blocks around the “stage” from which one of the area’s largest fireworks displays is launched.
“It didn’t start out like this,” said Julie Terry, who, along with her husband,Ken, owns and operates Terry Family Fireworks. “Eleven years ago, we bought the old Red Swadley place on the corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 with the intention of building storage units where the house once stood. The first year, we didn’t have a building up, so we sold fireworks from a tent. By the next summer, we had the metal building up, but hadn’t divided it into separate storage units yet, so we sold our fireworks from inside the building. It went over so well we thought, ‘Hey, let’s hold off on the storage unit idea.’”
Instead of dividing the building into separate interior units, the Terrys christened it “The Gathering Place,” and lease it out for community events - including garage sales - when it’s not being used for fireworks sales or owner-hosted events to benefit the community, including their annual family/community Thanksgiving dinner.
“About the fourth season of fireworks sales,” Julie Terry said, “we set off a small fireworks display on the evening of July 3. People loved it so much that several of them came up to us afterward and insisted on giving us money as a way of showing their appreciation and to help cover expenses. They even suggested that maybe next year we could increase the size of the event by soliciting donations from businesses in the surrounding area.
“It wasn’t something we were comfortable doing at first,” Terry said, “until we came up with the idea of matching the contributions of each of our sponsors with our own funds. The response has been incredible. Last year, we were able to put on a 40-minute firework show with the help of some 30 or 40 sponsors.”
This year’s show should be comparable, Terry says.
Terry says, as far as she knows, theirs is the only family-owned fireworks business in the area. The Terrys’ four sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren all get in on the seasonal flurry. The women man the cash register, while the guys light up the skies on July 3.
Julie Terry wants to give credit, too, to the friends and family members who grill and serve the meals that are available for purchase at the event.
“The names of those people change every year,” she said, “but we couldn’t do it without them.”
This year, Terry says, the picnic will begin at 6 p.m. Meals will consist of hot dogs (provided by Tyson’s), homemade baked beans, chips, a cookie and a drink for $6.
Live music will be performed by Lancaster Station, a vocal group from Springfield, beginning at 6 p.m. Children from Vacation Bible School at First Freewill Baptist Church in Purdy will also perform (around 7 p.m.).
Terry Family Fireworks recently expanded to additional locations in Monett and Cassville. Landon Terry operates a tent at the junction of Highways 37 and 60 in Monett; Purdy High School baseball coach, Josh Hughes, operates a tent at Baywash (across from Walmart) in Cassville.
Sheila Harris
Terry Family Fireworks in Purdy began 11 years ago as any number of other fireworks stands in the area, with seasonal fireworks purveyed from a pop-up tent in a vacant lot. The Terry Family, though, has taken that simple concept and created something which has exploded in popularity and added vitality to a community where the local grocery store recently bowed out.
Their annual 4th of July gathering (held on the 3rd) now draws hundreds - if not tens of hundreds - of people from surrounding communities. Many come early and gather on lawn chairs to eat the hot dog meals that are served, to listen to the live music on tap and to socialize.
While the spirit of community is prevalent among picnickers, when evening shadows begin to lengthen, the population of Purdy appears to double before one’s eyes. A steady stream of vehicles - most of them loaded with children - pours into town and drivers fill every available parking spot for blocks around the “stage” from which one of the area’s largest fireworks displays is launched.
“It didn’t start out like this,” said Julie Terry, who, along with her husband,Ken, owns and operates Terry Family Fireworks. “Eleven years ago, we bought the old Red Swadley place on the corner of C Highway and Business Highway 37 with the intention of building storage units where the house once stood. The first year, we didn’t have a building up, so we sold fireworks from a tent. By the next summer, we had the metal building up, but hadn’t divided it into separate storage units yet, so we sold our fireworks from inside the building. It went over so well we thought, ‘Hey, let’s hold off on the storage unit idea.’”
Instead of dividing the building into separate interior units, the Terrys christened it “The Gathering Place,” and lease it out for community events - including garage sales - when it’s not being used for fireworks sales or owner-hosted events to benefit the community, including their annual family/community Thanksgiving dinner.
“About the fourth season of fireworks sales,” Julie Terry said, “we set off a small fireworks display on the evening of July 3. People loved it so much that several of them came up to us afterward and insisted on giving us money as a way of showing their appreciation and to help cover expenses. They even suggested that maybe next year we could increase the size of the event by soliciting donations from businesses in the surrounding area.
“It wasn’t something we were comfortable doing at first,” Terry said, “until we came up with the idea of matching the contributions of each of our sponsors with our own funds. The response has been incredible. Last year, we were able to put on a 40-minute firework show with the help of some 30 or 40 sponsors.”
This year’s show should be comparable, Terry says.
Terry says, as far as she knows, theirs is the only family-owned fireworks business in the area. The Terrys’ four sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren all get in on the seasonal flurry. The women man the cash register, while the guys light up the skies on July 3.
Julie Terry wants to give credit, too, to the friends and family members who grill and serve the meals that are available for purchase at the event.
“The names of those people change every year,” she said, “but we couldn’t do it without them.”
This year, Terry says, the picnic will begin at 6 p.m. Meals will consist of hot dogs (provided by Tyson’s), homemade baked beans, chips, a cookie and a drink for $6.
Live music will be performed by Lancaster Station, a vocal group from Springfield, beginning at 6 p.m. Children from Vacation Bible School at First Freewill Baptist Church in Purdy will also perform (around 7 p.m.).
Terry Family Fireworks recently expanded to additional locations in Monett and Cassville. Landon Terry operates a tent at the junction of Highways 37 and 60 in Monett; Purdy High School baseball coach, Josh Hughes, operates a tent at Baywash (across from Walmart) in Cassville.