When he’s not serving subpoenas, summonses or eviction notices to people, Shannan Shidler enjoys playing with explosives.
No, the longtime Oxford resident is not some mad-bomber or militia member. He’s really just a big kid at heart.
Shidler, who’s worked as a court officer for the Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court for 17 years, puts on fireworks displays, most notably the Lake Orion show held around the Fourth of July every year.
‘It’s like a war zone,? said Shidler, describing what it’s like to be in the thick of it when the big guns are going off right next to him. ‘Fortunately, nobody’s shooting back.?
For years, Shidler and his crew have lit up the night sky with spectacular fireworks shows in Lake Orion, Lake Nepessing, Dryden, Metamora and Lapeer.
He got into fireworks 20 years ago when friends Glen Stokes and Steve Burnham, a former Oxford police officer, invited him to help with a show in Livonia.
‘On my first time out, they let me light them and that was it ? I was hooked,? Shidler said.
He had ‘so much fun? they invited him to help with the Lake Orion show that same year.
‘I’ve been doing it ever since,? said Shidler, noting he became foreman of the fireworks crew six years later and continues to work for Stokes putting on displays using shells from Wolverine Fireworks in Bay City.
While most fireworks shows these days are done electronically with everything hooked up to batteries, wires and buttons, Shidler still prefers doing manual shows, which involve loading, lighting and reloading all the guns by hand.
‘I’m a dinosaur. I like lighting them,? he said. ‘For me, that’s where the fun is. I think if we went completely electronic, I probably wouldn’t do it anymore.?
Shidler, who also works as a campus monitor at Lake Orion High School, realizes the manual way is a ‘dying? art.
‘I only know of one other crew that still does it (manually) and they’re probably down to maybe only 10 percent of their shows done that way.?
A manual crew is divided into three types of workers ? shooters, loaders and runners. Runners constantly supply shells to the loaders, who in turn keep all the guns loaded while the shooters light the wicks with road flares.
All the crew members, including Shidler, are unpaid volunteers. ‘They do this because they love it like I do,? he said.
Even though Shidler admitted electronic shows are safer and require less crew members, for him, they’re not as exciting as doing it all by hand, especially the shooting aspect, his favorite part.
‘They’re two-second wicks, so when you hit it with the flare, you’ve got just enough time to turn your head,? he explained. ‘You hear this huge ‘thunk? come out of the gun and you just feel this flame come up your back. That’s the adrenaline rush. If I didn’t get that, I guess I’d probably retire.?
The guns, or ‘mortars? as some call them, Shidler uses in his manual shows are large steel tubes ranging in length from 24 inches to five feet. Each one gets buried halfway in a large sand berm.
The guns vary in diameter according to the size of shell they must propel. Shell sizes used by Shidler range from three to 10 inches, the latter being his personal favorite because it’s ‘the biggest and the loudest.?
‘Whatever number size it is, that’s how far they’re going to go up in the air,? he explained. ‘A three-inch goes 300 feet in air. A 10-inch will go 1,000 feet.?
Shidler won’t shoot anything bigger than a 10-inch because any higher and he would have ‘go through a lot of red tape? with the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure there will be no aircraft in the area during the show.
‘A 12-inch goes 1,200 feet ? that could take a plane down,? he said.
Safety is the highest priority when putting on a fireworks show, so everyone on the crew is always extremely careful.
‘Respecting it is the biggest thing,? Shidler said. ‘Most of my guys have been with me a few years now, so they all know what can happen. Fortunately, knock on wood, we haven’t had any incidents in a long time.?
Shidler himself has never been physically injured, although he and his loader once lost their hearing for about an hour after firing an especially loud shell.
‘My loader now wears ear plugs,? he said.
Following safety, Shidler’s second priority is showmanship.
All his shows start at 10 p.m. and generally last about 30 minutes.
‘To me a good show is 30 minutes with no dead air,? he said. ‘You go over 30 minutes the kids start getting bored. If it’s too short, everyone’s not happy.?
Keeping the sky filled the entire 30 minutes is critical to putting on a great show.
‘The worst thing that can happen to a fireworks show is dead air,? Shidler said. ‘There should always be something going off up.?
During the 2006 Lake Orion show, which went all electronic that year for the first time, four wires were damaged aboard the barge housing all the guns floating in the middle of the lake, causing almost 17 minutes of dead air.
‘We got booed a lot last year. I didn’t like that,? Shidler said. ‘That’s the first time that’s ever happened to us.?
‘To be honest, that was probably our fault because we had never done it before that way, so it was a learning experience,? he explained.
Shidler was proud to report this year’s Lake Orion show went off without a hitch.
One advantage manual has over electronic is there’s less chance for something to go wrong and if it does, it’s easier to fix. ‘If a fuse breaks, you can hit it again (with the flare),? said Shidler, whereas if a wire breaks it takes longer to repair.
When everything in a show goes right, which it usually does, Shidler loves the reaction from both his crew and the crowd.
‘When the last one goes up, everyone’s running around high-fiving each other, hugging each other,? he said. ‘And you hear the crowd. That always makes you feel good to hear the crowd liked the show.?
The only drawback is, with the exception of the finale, Shidler doesn’t really get to watch the show.
‘The bad thing about shooting is you don’t get to see the sky,? he said. ‘You don’t have time to be looking up. You have to be watching what you’re doing. I never get to see the show.?
While he enjoys putting on fireworks displays, he doesn’t light them off at home or go to other people’s shows.
‘When I was a kid I always played with M-80s and fireworks, but after doing this, you don’t want to do that anymore,? he said. ‘After you play with the big ones, the little ones are nothing. It’s like sparklers.?
