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Top Notch Fireworks is open for its second season in Creston and offers a local option for purchasing fireworks.
Top Notch Fireworks, located at 900 S. Division St. in Creston, is owned by Brandon and MaKenzi Vonk of Creston. The store will open at noon this week from Monday through Friday and Sunday, and 9 a.m. Saturday. Starting the week of June 25, the store will stay open until 10, or later as long as customers are coming in.
Brandon previously worked the fireworks tents in Eagleville, Missouri, while he was in high school. He’s spent the past six years with the Creston Shooters and currently serves as vice president of the organization that puts on Creston’s Fourth of July show and various other shows throughout the area.
The Vonk family opened Top Notch Fireworks last June, after former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law a bill that allowed the sale and possession of fireworks in the state.
Top Notch Fireworks has been open this year since June 8 and is gearing up for its busiest part of the season as the Fourth of July holiday quickly approaches.
“This year was more trying to know what items to get,” Brandon said. “You just have to see what people bought last year, what they really liked or find that off-the-wall, something new (item) that will catch people’s eye.”
There are a number of various fireworks tents popping up around town, but the Vonk family’s fireworks store is unique in that it is locally owned and keeps all the money generated from the store local.
“We live here, we pay taxes here, our kids go to school here. We have two other businesses here. We try to do all of our shopping, if we can, at our local stores,” Brandon said. “Our employees are all from Creston. We want to keep as many buying from us as we can.”
Additionally, the Vonk family is offering a raffle fundraiser to its customers again this year. Last year, the Vonks raised more than $800 for Rich Eagan, who had been involved in a bad motorcycle accident.
This year, proceeds from the raffle fundraiser will go toward the McKinley Park Aquatic Center. Tickets are two for $5, four for $6 or eight for $10, with the winner receiving a large assortment pack of fireworks. The winner will be drawn on July 3, giving the winner time to pick up the pack before the Fourth of July.
“Whatever money we raise on that, that’s all going to the pool,” Brandon said. “We put a community post out and asked what everyone wanted the money to go to. That’s what a vast majority wanted, so that’s what we’ll do.”
This year saw two major changes for Top Notch Fireworks – the construction of a new building at the same location its tent was located last year and changing companies for the fireworks product.
The new building gives the Vonks more space to display product, and is safer for employees in the event of inclement weather.
“We’ve got a lot more variety of kids stuff, especially,” Brandon said. “A lot of people, they want to have multiple things for the kids.”
Brandon said popular items this year have been new 500-gram cake products Triple Threat, Night Flight and Temper Tantrum.
“They’re a unique cake, because normally you only see comets – they don’t break, it’s just a bright white light – normally you only see those on the professional side,” he said. “These cakes actually come with it built into the cake for the consumer. So far everyone that’s bought some have said they like them, because they’re bright and then it’s followed by a color break.”
The Vonks switched over to Quest for artillery shells this year, which includes the famous Excalibur shell. A new item this year is the Color Smoke Wall, which shoots smoke from the ground to 75 feet in the air.
“We’re carrying a lot of the big assortment packs this year. We got a few different ones,” Brandon said. “We’ve got a lot more kids’ packs this year. We’ll have the same stuff. We’ll have snaps, just all kinds of things for kids to do.”
Residents must be 18 or older in order to purchase fireworks, according to state law. However, children under 18 are allowed to shoot fireworks with the supervision of an adult. Brandon and MaKenzi have also been trying to educate people about the city’s ordinance on fireworks, which says fireworks can not be shot off inside of city limits.
For more information on Top Notch Fireworks, visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/topnotchfireworksiowa/.