>> the rocket’s red glare...
TRANSCRIPT
34 | Summer 2014
Butterfl ies fl utter inside John Casse’s stomach
as he prepares for the show at Flavet Field.
Much like an athlete shakes off nerves before a
game, he reminds himself that he’s ready.
He arrives around 5 p.m. to set up and check that
all the electrical wiring is properly connected. After
more than four hours of waiting, checking, eating
and more waiting, he’s about to light up the night
at the University of Florida’s Fanfares & Fireworks
Independence Day Eve event.
As the patriotic music plays and the fi reworks erupt,
bystanders turn their eyes up, surprised and mesmer-
ized by the white-hot stars exploding into the sky, the
air crackling and sizzling like static electricity.
Flashes of red, blue, orange and white burst into the
air, then alternate with twinkling starburst patterns
that leave yellow trails behind as they fade.
About 15 minutes later, the rumbling fades as smoke
forms clouds and the crowd begins to disperse.
Casse indulges in a feeling of accomplishment for a
minute or two, giving himself a mental pat on the back
and exchanging handshakes and high-fi ves with his
employees. Then he gets back to work, knowing he still
has about an hour’s worth of cleanup ahead of him and
several more shows to prepare for the next day.
And on July 5, he’ll rest.
Casse has produced fi reworks shows at the University
of Florida for more than 20 years. But aside from the
university’s annual Fourth of July show (which he will
work again this year), the 2012 Gator Growl pep rally
and various sporting events, his Ocala-based company,
Skylighters of Florida, has handled pyrotechnics for the
New York Yankees, high school graduation ceremonies,
charity events, Veterans Day celebrations and more.
The 50-year-old, who grew up watching two genera-
tions of Casse men master the art of pyrotechnics in
the Midwest, oversees 20 to 30 fi reworks displays per
year and has traveled as far as Indiana and New York to
help with shows.
His earliest recollection of fi reworks dates back to
when he was 12 years old, gazing up at the brightly lit
sky in honor of a 1976 bicentennial celebration — the
Fire(work)Pyrotechnician John Casse has Been Lighting Upthe Skies Over UF forMore Than 20 Years
WRITTEN BY STYLIANA RESVANIS
>> THE ROCKET’S RED GLARE
34
www.VisitOurTowns.com Summer 2014 | 35
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36 | Summer 2014
200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
— in Ocala. He also remembers helping his father set
up displays in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
“Once the show was about ready to start, I would
have to leave because I wasn’t old enough,” Casse said.
“I had to move over to where the spectators were.”
Casse has had several exciting jobs over the years but
said one of the most memorable is the one that got away.
During the 1992 presidential election, the business
received a request to do pyrotechnics for Bill Clinton
and Al Gore in Ocala at an event, which would air on
CNN. Two days before the show, Casse and his crew
were preparing a display, complete with a light-up
sign spelling “Clinton-Gore,” when campaign workers
canceled because of safety concerns.
Casse’s company also produced a fi reworks show at
a birthday celebration for George Steinbrenner — late
owner and managing partner of the Yankees — in
Tampa after Casse’s father fi elded a call from the
mogul’s wife and agreed to work the event. The
PHOTOS BY STYLIANA RESVANIS and ELISE GIORDANO
Each fi reworks shell label includes information on the shell’s size, color
and design. Those shells are then loaded into mortar tubes, or launchers.
36
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38 | Summer 2014
problem? Steinbrenner’s birthday fell on July
Fourth, a holiday synonymous with fi reworks.
Casse couldn’t make it to Tampa himself
because he was working another celebration, but
he scrambled to gather extra manpower and even
called a contact in Atlanta to pitch in. In the end,
his employees pulled off the event without a hitch.
Despite the fact that none of his relatives or
employees has ever been seriously injured, his
wife still worries about him on the job — after
all, where there’s explosive material there’s risk,
and he said it’s especially dangerous around the
Fourth of July because of the increased demand for
pyrotechnics.
“My belief is when you stop fearing [fi reworks],
that’s when you can have a problem; when you
become too comfortable and let your guard down,”
he said.
While some danger remains, the switch to
electronically controlled fi reworks in the last 15
to 20 years has added some safety, Casse said. At
smaller shows, fi reworks might still be lit by hand,
but he said most shows today are fi red wirelessly
or with an electronically pushed button.
“Everything is planned out hopefully to the
second or to the minute as far as what time you’re
going to do what effects,” he said. “It’s broken up
into different scenes: an opening, a main body
and a fi nale to cap everything off. Most of the
shows you see, especially big ones, use software
programs; you turn the key or switch and then the
fi ring panel will shoot the show for you.”
The Casse family’s involvement in pyrotechnics
began with Casse’s grandfather, who sold safety
equipment such as extinguishers, engines and
hoses to an Indiana fi re department in the 1940s.
The fi re department handled fi reworks shows in
those days, and the elder Casse’s interest ignited
after meeting someone involved with the enter-
tainment explosives.
While his uncle and cousins maintain a
fi reworks business in Indianapolis, Casse’s father
decided to continue his career in the South in the
early 1970s. He later passed the torch to his son
who, in 1990, founded Skylighters.
These days, Casse runs his business while his
father helps out from time to time. Even though
he has employees, he said most of them also hold
jobs in a variety of fi elds, such as fi refi ghting and
paramedics, because it’s a seasonal business that
lacks enough work for a large full-time staff.
The most meaningful fi reworks display Casse
has ever done was one for an employee’s funeral
in Keystone Heights on New Year’s Eve almost fi ve
years ago. During the fi ve-minute memorial show,
fellow co-workers yelled the man’s name and
shouted, “This is for you!”
PHOTOS BY ELISE GIORDANO
John Casse’s fi reworks display lights up the sky at Gator
Growl 2012 at UF’s Ben Hill Griffi n Stadium.
38
www.VisitOurTowns.com Summer 2014 | 39
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40 | Summer 2014
“He loved fi reworks more than even me,” Casse
said. “There were some tears, but also some happy
[thoughts], knowing it was something he would’ve
been smiling over.”
Every show Casse does requires personalization,
which he accomplishes by inquiring what each client
is looking for. For UF, the goal is obvious.
“To me, as much orange and blue you can get, you
should get,” he said.
The university’s shows vary depending on the event.
The Fourth of July display is a main-attraction event
that lasts about 15 to 20 minutes and emphasizes UF’s
colors as well as red, white and blue.
On the other hand, Gator Growl or sporting events
use fi reworks to cap off the night and add a signature
at the end of a celebration, Casse said. These shows
pack as much entertainment as possible into about
three to six minutes.
But no matter how long a show lasts, Casse believes
fi reworks serve their purpose: to entertain and bring
joy to audiences.
“I think people connect with them and view them as
a special occasion, a celebration or something happy,”
he said. “Maybe it’s all the colors and the noise.”
Casse’s children, however, have become immune
to the effects of fi reworks. Although their friends fi nd
them exciting, he said his sons are more interested in
video games and music.
But his oldest child, 20-year-old Camden, does fi nd
himself following in his father’s footsteps by helping
at events. He is too young now, but someday Casse’s
son will be presented with the choice of keeping the
business in the family.
“It’s defi nitely something I’ve kept in mind,” Camden
said. The aspiring sports writer, who recently graduated
from the College of Central Florida with an associate
degree and hopes to transfer to UF, said he would
consider maintaining his father’s company on the side
if he ends up working for a publication in the state.
But for now, Casse is content to fuel the family
fi reworks business and brighten the nights of those
who witness his work.
“Assuming everything went well and everybody’s
safe, there’s no feeling like when it’s over and you hear
the crowd cheering,” he said. “That’s basically what it’s
all about — that you’ve entertained people.” s
“Assuming everything went well and everybody’s safe, there’s no feeling like when it’s over and you hear the crowd cheering.”
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