Battle of the Barge

It was a damp Thursday morning, August 18th, that turned into a damp afternoon and then a wet Friday and Saturday.

But when the Blue Lagoon Marine guys from Spring Park showed up with the barge on Thursday, it got delivered and unloaded as planned.

The barge was to be ready and in place next to the dock at the public access on Stieger Lake in Victoria by Saturday afternoon, August 20th, so it could be loaded with fireworks and maneuvered later that evening toward the bandstand shoreline where they would be shot off to light the sky above the lake and above the city.

This is Scott Farrington of the Blue Lagoon Marine.

This is Bruce Svoboda of the Blue Lagoon Marine.  He and Scott undid the straps and chains that were holding the 7-ton barge to the trailer.

Delivering the barge into the lake took less time than delivering the barge to the beach.

The 10 by 30-foot barge, which is owned by Concept Landscaping in Mound, was maneuvered into place.

A Victoria Public Works loader beached the barge until it would be needed the next day — to hold the fire works as they would be transported to another part of the lake near downtown Victoria.

That’s Cory Scharpe from the Victoria Public Works Department.

Thanks, Cory.

When the heavy rains arrived Friday morning and were forecast to continue through Saturday, the Victoria Volksfest and Fireworks were cancelled.  Drat the luck.

Said Randy Miller, President of the Victoria Business Association, “Six other people helped make that decision.  It’s an issue of safety.”

Life is one battle after another.  So much works goes on behind the scenes, and sometimes it doesn’t pay off so well.  There were no Victoria Fireworks in 2016, at least not to date.