Davis County Clipper | 1992-06-30 | Page 13 | July 4th for Smiths is 'Labor Day'

i A different kind of holiday for family i July 4th for Smiths is 'labor day' come myriads of school expenses, fees for musical training, and now, of course, Jason's mission. The Smiths are very music-oriented, and the profits from their summers of fireworks stands have helped buy a much-needed piano and pay for music and voice lessons. It has also allowed them to help others in need in the community, something the Smith family is known for. Through the past decade of holidays, holi-days, the family has bonded together and made the long, hot days before and after the holidays as fun and memorable as possible. Contracts for locations are signed about the first of each year, and about the end of May, Golden Dragon ships the Smiths their allotment of fireworks for the year, which they store locally. About a week before opening, Kent and Linda begin building their fireworks stands, carefully bolting panels in place, making sure electrical elec-trical connections are secure, and assuring that their stands are neat, clean and orderly. As time to open approaches, the family meets to map out their schedules of who will work which booths. Mindy and Tiffany help Kent inventory the fireworks Golden Dragon has shipped, and then Kent and Linda stock the shelves. Over 10 years, the Smith have learned many things that have helped give their stands an eye catching, appealing arrangement of fireworks. The family has become quite versed in fireworks. Shortly after Kent and Linda got started, they set off almost every type of firework Golden Dragon sells, "to see what they'd do," as Linda explained. The Smiths have also traditionally enlisted the help of kids in their neighborhood to distribute flyers with the addresses of their stands, "particularly the roving one," she said with a smile. Friends and neighbors are also hired as needed to help in the stands, particularly on SEE SMITH ON A-6 Bv TOM HARALDSEN Clipper Correspondent BOUNTIFUL For Kent and Linda Smith of Bountiful, as well as their five children and assorted friends and neighbors, every July 4th and July 24th resembles a different kind of holiday labor day. For the past 10 years, the Smiths i have spent both of those traditional holidays working to provide enjoyment en-joyment for those who don't have to. They sell fireworks, lots of them, and it's become a family business that has turned into a memorable tradition. Kent actually got involved in the business in 1982 when an old high school friend told him that he was going to open a fireworks stand in West Jordan. So, while Linda and the Smith children visited family in Idaho, Kent and partners (the Allreds of Salt Lake City) opened a Golden Dragon fireworks stand. "That was the first year in many years that fireworks were legal in Utah," Kent recalled, "and business busi-ness was tremendous. My initial impression was that this was a great family project, a good way to work together and earn some money for college and missions. We worked long and hard and had a great season, and that whet my appetite for the next year. Not only was there decent profit from the part-time job, but Kent could see that the Allreds were benefitting as a family from the experience. ex-perience. In 1983, the Smiths started with a single stand of their own on a vacant lot along Highway 89 in North Salt Lake. That was followed by two stands in 1984, as Golden Dragon liked what they saw in how the Smith family ran their stand and asked them to take a second location. It was also in 1984 that the family got their first "permanent" stand location loca-tion in the parking lot of J. C. Penneys in Centerville. The second stand, meanwhile, has been "roving" all over town, moving from Fred Meyer's parking lot to two locations on 500 South, once to Colonial Square and finally to the parking lot of Winegars on Orchard Drive in North Salt Lake, where it is located today. This year, Golden Dragon asked them to take a third location, at the original Slim Olsons on Highway 89, a spot they're thrilled to have as well. Originally, the Smith children were a bit young to be working much in the booths, so Kent called on the assistance of Dene Harris and her family, long time friends from Preston, Idaho. Ilene's sons helped Kent construct and dismantle the booths each year, and assisted he and Linda in training their kids for the stands. "They were invaluable in getting us started," Kent stated. "We owe a lot of our success to them." Today, Kent and Linda's children include Stacie Wheeler, 22, and her husband Scott, who live in Logan and who both recently graduated from Utah State; Mindy, 21, a senior at USU; Jason, 19, currently at the Missionary Training Center in Provo preparing to leave for Portugal Por-tugal for an LDS mission; Tiffany, 18, a recent graduate of Woods Cross High who is headed to Logan herself this fall; and Tyler, 14, a ninth grader at South Davis Junior High. Stacie and Scott ran their own Golden Dragon stand in Logan for two years, and are here this summer helping the family with their three locations. With all those children have Smith CONTINUED FROM A-4 July 3 and 4, the busiest two days of the season. Now it might seem like a lot of fun and games for this family, but consider that over the past 10 years, they've never taken a trip or seen a fireworks demonstration during those holidays. "That's been the toughest part," Linda said. 'Those first years, when our children were a bit young, they felt bad because they couldn't be at the stands the whole time. Now, they sometimes feel bad because they have to be. But I think they all still like doing it for the most part, and it's provided a lot of memories for us." Not all of those have been pleasant, pleas-ant, however. For several years, the Smiths tethered large helium-filled blimps to draw attention to their stands. One year, a strong thunderstorm blew into Centerville, causing the blimp at the Penneys stand "to dive bomb into Main Street several times,' as Linda recalled, re-called, while she was trying to pull it down. Another time, Jason was dragged part way across a parking lot when a driver accidentally hooked a fender onto one of the ropes holding the blimp. He escaped unharmed. Tiffany was also dragged across a parking lot once by a wind blown blimp. Another An-other time, three teens shot holes in a blimp. Needless to say, the blimps have been retired. But for the most part, the Smiths have enjoyed making new friends, getting reacquainted with old ones each year, and helping families make logical and intelligent decisions deci-sions about their firework purchases. pur-chases. "One facet of this that's very important to us is helping people. We know what each of these fireworks can do, and we really care about our customers and want them to enjoy the fireworks they buy. So we can assist them in selecting the right ones for their family or group," Kent said. Through the threats of rain and wind, the extremely hot days when the parking lots swelter, and the natural ups and downs that come with any business, Kent and Linda Smith have enjoyed bringing the wonder and excitement of summer's two biggest celebrations to hundreds of Davis County residents. "People love to ooh and aah," Kent said. "The aesthetic experience experi-ence of the holidays, the colors and the sounds, really make a great family activity." And no one has worked harder to bring that activity to families here than the Smith family of Bountiful.