'Banding' together for fireworks

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Fans of fireworks on Grand Island want a hometown encore in 2026.

Last year, Mary Ehde and Diane Thompson of Moose Lodge No. 180 co-chaired a committee that raised $15,000 from Island residents and businesses to resume the fireworks show for the first time since Fantasy Island amusement park closed in 2020.

Fantasy Island’s successor, IB Parks and Entertainment, reopened the park in 2022 as Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World at Fantasy Island.

But with all the restoration work to get the abandoned park up and running, fireworks were not top of mind for the new management. They provided the venue. The community provided the fireworks. Ehde and Thompson set the monetary goal, and the community came through big time for 2025.

The pair is working to make that happen for the second year in a row. If their drive succeeds, the skies will light up on July 4, 2026, over the renewed amusement park.

Toward that end, the fireworks fundraiser “Let’s Band Together Luau” will take place starting at noon on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Moose Lodge No. 180, 2524 Grand Island Blvd.

The event will feature four bands, an open mic jam session, a 50/50 split, a basket of cheer raffle, and $5 mystery grab bags. There also will be inflatable axe-throwing.

Presale tickets can be purchased at the Moose Lodge. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. and includes pulled pork, short ribs and Chiavetta’s chicken, by Chuck Vacanti catering; draft beer, pop and water. All proceeds go toward the fireworks fund. 

The entertainment includes The Ellen Band, the Basix, the Heenan Brothers and the Johnson City Band.

Ehde said that, last year, the fundraising covered a 22-minute show by Skylighters Fireworks of Orchard Park. This year, she has made more than 70 calls, door-to-door, to appeal to the community to pull out another miracle. Mailings produced low returns, she said.

“We’re saving some stamps here,” she quipped.

After 2026, Ehde said the park is on its own to come up with pyrotechnics.

“This is my finale. This is it. I promised two years,” she said.

Ehde is hoping the amusement park steps up and takes it over starting in 2027.

She said, when she asked how people felt about the actual fireworks show, everybody told her it was a great display and they liked not having to leave the island to celebrate the Fourth.

“You know: Mission accomplished. However, right now, I’m not seeing people step up as readily. Maybe they’re waiting for the fundraiser,” Ehde said.

She said, in last year’s fundraising, businessman Michael Vacarro, owner of Municipal Pipe / D&H Paving, reached out with a very big donation to push the fund drive to its goal. He is an Island resident who also co-owns Grovers Bar & Grill in Amherst.

This year, his pledge came early for a good kick-off to the campaign, Ehde said.

The amusement park has improved its offerings, Ehde noted, adding six more rides and a walk-around path this past season, and the July 4 crowds could be bigger than this year.

“They’ve really been listening to the people,” she said.

Thompson said she enjoyed working on the fireworks fundraising last year as one of her first big projects as a member of the Moose Lodge.

“We really had fun, and we’re going to do it again,” she said.

“We got to go behind the scenes at Fantasy Island and saw how they set it all up (the fireworks) – once in a lifetime!”

Thompson said last year’s fundraising theme was to bring back the fireworks, and this year’s it’s “Keep the 4^th of July fireworks on the Island.”

“When we saw the turnout for the fireworks – for me, that was the key to success.”

For more information and updates, go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/755562187426611.

From left, Diane Thompson, Mary Ehde and Jude Kuehne are holding a fundraising campaign to again bring fireworks back to Grand Island for 2026. The venue for the July 4 fireworks will be Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World at Fantasy Island. A fireworks fundraiser will be held at noon Saturday, Oct. 11, at Moose Lodge No. 180, 2524 Grand Island Blvd. The event, billed as the "Let's Band Together Luau," will feature four bands, an open mic jam session, a 50/50 split, a basket of cheer raffle, and $5 mystery grab bags. The donation, including the meal, is $20. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. and includes pulled pork, draft beer, pop and water. All proceeds go toward the fireworks fund.