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Burlington, Vermont - December 31, 2010

Hours before Burlington's big fireworks shows, the pyrotechnicians were hard at work on the city's waterfront. East Montpelier's Northstar Fireworks has been ringing in the New Year at First Night Burlington since the very beginning.

Reporter Jack Thurston: So you haven't had a New Year's Eve off in decades!

Steffen Parker/Northstar Fireworks: That's correct, I've shot fireworks for Burlington's First Night for 28 years, and I shot fireworks a couple other places prior to that. So it's been a while since I've had New Year's Eve off, but at least my wife knows where I am!

This is a part-time job for Parker, who also works behind the scenes at Channel 3 helping put our newscasts on the air.

The explosives he uses may be manufactured in China, but much of the equipment is "Made in Vermont," including all the wooden launch racks and tubes the fireworks blast out of. "We're kind of painting the sky, as we call it," Parker said.

Northstar puts on about 250 fireworks shows a year all across New England. This New Year's Eve, crews are at First Night parties in Burlington, Montpelier, and St. Johnsbury. "And we're enjoying the relatively balmy weather this New Year's Eve compared to some years in Vermont," Parker said.

Parker and his team lay out the shells in specific orders-- mixing colors, effects, and heights. "In an order that will make a nice pleasing appearance in the sky," he explained.

Burlington's 6 o'clock show was just under 15 minutes of lower, colorful fireworks. The midnight display had larger shells-- meaning higher explosions. It also featured a faster flurry of blasts, creating what Northstar calls the exclamation point that kicks off 2011.

Choreographing the explosives and hammering out the logistics can take weeks or a few months and long hours on launch days, but Northstar Fireworks says the oohs and aahs from the crowds make it all worth it. "Yes, I enjoy doing this!" Parker said.

First Night Burlington says the total price tag for both fireworks shows was $5,000.

Northstar Fireworks also runs three retail stores-- in East Montpelier, St. Johnsbury, and Fairlee. The company says those stores were very busy this week with customers buying sparklers and other novelty fireworks for their own New Year's Eve celebrations.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont