News : Bar Y Pyros to make sure Party in the Park ends with a big bang

For the past 20 years, Vinton has hosted the Party in the Park family celebration at Riverside Park. And since 2005, the Bar Y Pyros, led by local farmer Chuck Yedlik have put on an awesome fireworks show to cap off the weekend long festival.

This year, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Party in the Park, Yedlik and the Pyros promise a show the likes of which have never been seen in Vinton before. “Duane Randall told me we needed a special fireworks show to celebrate the 20th anniversary,” Yedlik said.

Loading and shooting fireworks has been a lifelong hobby for Yedlik. His passion for the hobby spread to the rest of his family, and the Bar Y Pyros group was formed. “We just do this for fun. Our goal is to entertain people and to see the crowd’s reactions when everything goes right. When somebody says ‘thank you’ after we put on a show, that’s payment enough for us.”

There will also be fireworks on Friday night this year. In fact, the Friday night show is being donated by Chuck Yedlik himself. “We’ve always supported Duane and the Party in the Park committee, and we decided to donate Friday’s show so that the committee’s entire fireworks budget could be used to put on a truly unbelievable show on Saturday.” Yedlik added, “Saturday night’s show will be the most product you’ve ever seen at Party in the Park. If you’ve liked the shows before, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he laughed. “But if the show on Saturday is too much for you to handle, blame Duane, not me,” Yedlik said with a grin.

Vinton’s Party in the Park is a totally free annual celebration made possible by many sponsors and private donors. For a complete rundown of the weekend’s events go to www.vprdzone.com or call VPRD at 319-472-4164 for more information.