Online fireworks are a blast
ERIN ALBERTY
If you can't get out to see the skyward fireworks in Saginaw on the Fourth of July, you can set off your own show right inside your home or office.
Insurers, don't get too excited.
Certain Web sites are running virtual fireworks displays set over local scenes. Users choreograph their own shows by clicking on a night sky pictured over Saginaw-area landmarks and major tourist sites across the state.
"The Internet can do some pretty amazing things," says Philip Ellison, who created the feature as a holiday treat for Web-design and consulting clients of his Hemlock-based business, Quagmire Solutions, LLC.
Visitors to www.quagmiresolutions.com can travel or stay home for their personal fireworks shows by clicking the link in the upper right hand corner. Scenes include:
* TheDow Event Center, Saginaw
* Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant
* State Capitol in Lansing
* Comerica Park, Detroit
* Mackinac Bridge, St. Ignace
* Portage Lake Lift Bridge, Houghton
* Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire
The official Saginaw fireworks Web site, www.saginawareafireworks.com, contains a similar function over a photo of the Saginaw River, where the actual show starts at 10:15 p.m. Monday with a rain date Tuesday.
Ellison, 22, said the fireworks display is the most popular of his Web site's seasonal attractions, drawing more than 600 viewers since it went up at 9 p.m. Monday.
Earlier holiday features have included interactive Christmas cards and a Memorial Day presentation on Abraham Lincoln's fabled "Mrs. Bixby" letter to the mother of five Confederate soldiers who were believed to have died in the Civil War.
"This has been the biggest, happiest response yet," Ellison says. "I work with a lot of business people, and it brings a lot of smiles."
The site's audience now goes beyond Ellison's usual circle of customers as friends and relatives recommend it to others. Ellison turned off the e-mail alert that sent him a notice every time someone visits the site; it was firing off messages constantly.
"It's surprising, because in terms of coding, it's a fairly simple thing," he says.
Fireworks displays are making a sparkly presence on the Internet this year, with blogs and e-mail chains directing users to popular sites such as www.njagyouth.org/liberty.htm, which sets the show above the Statue of Liberty.
Ellison says his customers like the local version.
"People can recognize the places, see some things around Michigan," he says. "The response has been tremendous." v
Erin Alberty is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach her at 776-9673.