Museum offers look back at pre-fireworks shows
The Lincoln County Historical Museum will offer an old fashioned fireworks show this weekend. Museum director Jim Griffin said there will be an anvil blowing Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m. About eight anvils will be shot off, for an hour of entertainment. Food and drinks will be available.
"Before there were fireworks, anvils were used," said Griffin. "We put one upside down on the ground and fill the hole in the bottom with black powder and a fuse. Then we put another one on top of it, light the fuse and the top one is shot off. It sounds dangerous, but it's really not as long as you don't try to catch it on the way back down."
The event is also known as anvil shooting and anvil firing. Although there are relatively no sparks, the 200 pounds of iron sail through the air, leaving behind a cloud of dust and a resounding boom. The anvils can allegedly extend hundreds of feet into the air.
Griffin said it's the first anvil blowing the museum has done because it took a long time to acquire permission for it. The performance will be in the Village. It's free and open to the public.
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