Perrysburg fireworks brighten the sky

The Maumee/Perrysburg 4th of July fireworks celebration at Ft. Meigs in Perrysburg. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Buy This Photo

For once, sleepy Perrysburg didn’t seem like such a quiet town.

Tonight, the streets in some of the expensive-looking neighborhoods had bumper-to-bumper parking. It looked like Chicago-style neighborhood parking, the kind that can give a bad parallel-parker a panic attack.

Crowds of people moved along the sidewalks on Indiana Avenue. The historic Fort Meigs was reminiscent of a packed county fair as children rode flashy rides and families sat on the grass.

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The reason for the Perrysburg transformation?

Fireworks.

The cities of Perrysburg and Maumee presented a $30,000 fireworks show to thousands of people. The fireworks were scheduled to be shot off the bridge over the Maumee River.

In a quaint city, such as Perrysburg, the fireworks are “actually extreme,” said Harold Uhde, 54, of Perrysburg.

“It’s big city fireworks in a small town,” said Mr. Uhde, who has been watching the show annually for about two decades.

This year, he chose a spot to watch the fireworks where the children’s shrieks and all the noise would be a little bit quieter — Fort Meigs Cemetery.

The fireworks also brought out West Toledo resident Sam Peatee, 18.

The teenager, who is heading off to Bowling Green State University in the fall, said she prefers seeing the fireworks in Perrysburg than Toledo because of the small-town atmosphere.

With all the people watching the show together, “It’s awesome. It just seems more like a community,” she said.

Despite a sudden downpour that sent the crowd running at Fort Meigs about 30 minutes before the show, the fireworks went off at 10:30 p.m.

The fireworks were full of red, white, purple and green colors popping in the sky.

“The Fourth of July is all about the fireworks,” said Bruce Becker, 56, of Perrysburg.

Contact Gabrielle Russon at: grusson@theblade.com or 419-351-0361 or on Twitter at grusson@theblade.com.