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ORCHARD ISLAND – Who are Don and Dave Beck? By Victoria Wolfe I can’t remember when I didn’t know Don and Dave. It seems like they were my brothers from the get-go. When you live on an island with very few people, it’s like a one-room schoolhouse, where kids of all ages hang out together. The older kids always watch out for the younger ones. All the girls had crushes on the twins. All the guys thought they could do anything, mostly because they could. Needless to say, all the “grown-ups” also thought pretty highly of them. Recently, I sat down to talk to Don, Dave, and their sister Sue at the cottage on Orchard Island to reminisce. As they recall, early years of fireworks were sponsored by the people who lived on Circle Island and owned Bowman’s Dairy in Hebron, Buckeye Lake Amusement Park owners and Gardner’s Grocery Store also helped. Then in the 1960’s, John Wolfe and his brother Ed who were in their 40’s, decided to have their own fireworks for family and friends, Ed hauled a wagon full of hay down to the front yard of his property on South Bank. They buried a metal tube in the hay, and the two of them took turns lighting the shells in the tube. Everything went fine the first year, but the second year on of the shells blew up inside the tube and started the hay wagon on fire. Who didn’t know that was going to happen? Then it occurred to my dad and uncle that, although they loved the sight of them, fireworks was dangerous adult toys, would rather watch than participate. Meanwhile, the same year, Don and a friend of his, Cal Gebhart, went down to Trotwood, Ohio to the United Fireworks Company. They spent all the money they had for fireworks. They brought the fireworks home and set them off at Orchard Island. They had so much fun that the next year, Don started collecting money from businesses to help pay for the fireworks. He collected money from Millersport Bank, Millersport Marina, the residents of Orchard Island, and some from Don’s small business. John W. Wolfe was not particularly fond of most kids, but he had a genuine fondness for Don and Dave. So when Don asked Dad if he wanted to chip in for fireworks that year, because of his fondness for Don and the fiasco that occurred the year before with the hay wagon, he was more that happy to give a generous donation. It was that year, as far as my father and I are concerned, that the Buckeye Lake fireworks display began. One summer when the boys were doing a show, a big 15 inch shell went dead in the tube. They were both keenly aware that sometimes when you think a shell is a dud, it will blow up when you least expect it. They just poured a bucket of water down the tube. Then Dave reached in and pulled out the dud and threw it in one of the other buckets of water that were always kept close by. But then the tube they needed was filled with water. Certainly you all know how they got the water out of a tube, don’t you? They put in a new shell and blew it out, of course. That plan didn’t pan out exactly the way it was supposed to though. The water kept the shell from having enough pressure to get it up high in the air. It blew up low, went sideways a couple of times, and zigzagged toward a boat parked down the way. It went into the lake right next to the boat after scattering hot ashes and sparks all over it. The good news is no harm was done to the old varnished Chris-Craft that a little soap and water wouldn’t cure. The bad news was, it was MY boat. When Don collected money every year, John Wolfe would say, “I want more and I want bigger. Can you give me more booms?” He would hand Don more money until one year around 1970 John said, “Hey, since I am donating most of the money, can we move the fireworks from Orchard to Journal Island?” From then on, every Fourth of July morning Don and Dave would pile all the shells and tubes into their dad’s boat, buzz over to Journal Island, dig the holes for the tubes, and lay the canvas cover from their father’s Chris-Craft over all the shells to keep them dry and away from any danger. In 1975, at the end of the night, they cleaned up the mess, rolled up the tarp, and threw in the back of their dad’s boat and went home to bed. At about 3 a.m. a neighbor yelling “Don Beck, Don Beck” awakened the entire Beck family. It wasn’t until the neighbor said, “Your boathouse is on fire.” that all 10 feet hit the floor at the same time. They bumped into each other trying to get down the stairs at the speed of lightning. The canvas tarp had been harboring a smoldering ash until it finally burst info flames. As it turned out, only the tarp was on fire, and they promptly threw it into the lake. Neither their father’s boat nor boathouse was damaged. In 1974, Don had to start obtaining permits and getting insurance for the fireworks. Until then, it was sort of a free-for-all, but laws changed to make it more difficult to buy the big shells. The twins always used every precaution to ensure a safe holiday for everyone involved. Some of you might remember the flag that was lit at the end of the dock on Journal Island after the finale. What you may not know is that flag was a present to Dad from the twins. Every year they would hand him the flare when they were done, and he would walk to the end of the dock to light the flag with a child’s smile on his face. The boys, now men, consider themselves very lucky that nothing tragic ever happened through the years. 1976 was the last year they lit the fireworks for dad. They were starting families and their businesses, so playing with fire was not an alternative for them anymore. Today, Don owns and works at Delaware Marine. Dave works for the City of Columbus as the Construction Inspector. They carry fond memories of their golden pond. Both men have suffered hearing losses from setting off fireworks for so many years, but somehow it just doesn’t seem to matter. They were not enthusiastic about the idea of being in this year’s parade. They are just two unassuming guys who live their quiet lives. However, if Dad were alive today, I think he would be proud to see them float down this lake as Grand Marshals of The Buckeye Lake July 4th Boat Parade. They have absolutely earned their place! The story above was a front page article in the 'The Buckeye Lake Beacon' in 2000 History From 1976 until 1994, John W. Wolfe had a professional fireworks company set off a fireworks show from Journal Island. It was a perfect backdrop to his all-day annual personal party. However, he was always amazed at how many boats and people anticipated his display. He dearly loved hearing the boat horns honk after a particularly good one exploded. John W. Wolfe passed away in June 1994, but not before leaving a legacy for Buckeye Lake. He set up a trust at the Columbus Foundation that provides $10,000 a year for an annual Buckeye Lake fireworks show. In 1994, the Buckeye Lake Area Civic Association took over the arrangements. Due to the short notice, ODNR gave the Association permission to launch from Fairfield Beach which is the current site. Journal Island was purchased by John F. Wolfe who didn’t want to continue the fireworks tradition on the island. However, he did lend a barge to the Association for a launch site. The barge was anchored just to the west of Journal Island at the widest part of the lake. The barge was used from 1995 to 1999 until the show outgrew it. In 2000, my cousin Andy Wolfe stepped forward and volunteered the use of his front yard on the south side of the lake for our launch site. By the way, this is the same front yard where the hay wagon caught on fire in the 1960’s. This was our launch site for four years until Andy Wolfe started construction on his new home. In 2004, ODNR again gave us permission again to use Pug Island of Fairfield Beach. God willing, this is the BLASST’s permanent home. In 1995, Leanne Piolata, with a little help from Tully Rogers, started collecting donations door-to-door to supplement the $10,000 trust fund money. In 1997, Leanne introduced the luminaries as a safer and longer lasting way to light the lake. The profit from their sales went into the fireworks fund. Until then, the tradition had been for lake front residents to light flares along the water’s edge. It was a spectacular sight. In 1998, I joined Leanne in soliciting donations and in selling luminaries and now t-shirts to provide more money for a bigger show. We started writing letters to The Beacon updating readers on our progress and seeking mail-in donations. The more frequently we wrote, the more we received in donations. We got more money for bigger shows and most importantly others volunteered to help us raise money. Charlie Prince, the owner of the Beacon, was a huge help and still is today. We became known as the “Two round women on the golf cart,” and that’s what we were. In 1999, Leanne got a radio station to do a music simulcast for the show. It was a hit! That’s now a regular part of our show. 2002 was a big year. Leanne retired after years of this stressful volunteer work. I just naturally took hold of the reins following what my father had started, but not without help. It was clear that it was too much work for a couple of people. It seemed like I filled out hundreds of pages, but we were granted formal non-profit status as a 501 (C) 3 organization by the IRS. That made donations tax deductible and also ended the annual scramble to find an organization that could accept the trust fund money. Our 4th of July celebration was now an independent organization. My first order of business was to run a contest for a new name for our tradition. Steve Bush of Millersport was the winner with BLASST – Buckeye Lake Area Star Spangled Tradition. How perfect was that? That year I asked for volunteers to go door-to-door in their neighborhoods. Many wonderful volunteers stepped forward. They were appropriately nicknamed “Lightening Bugs.” Because these folks were known in their neighborhoods, donations came pouring in. The Lightening Bugs were a big part of our success today. That first year, they were collecting a lot of cash and writing many receipts. This was time consuming and just a general pain in the butt. So in my Beacon letters, I asked donors to mail-in checks. The killed two birds with one stone – donors had an automatic receipt and I had a great mailing list. Ooh, what a coup. I wish I could remember all the names of our volunteer and when I do, they will be added to this website. Well, I thought most of my stress and headaches were gone. Most of them were. Not only were the Lightening Bugs collecting funds, but a new group formed calling themselves the Redneck Women. This was a bunch of ladies that liked to drink and have fun together. They decided to do something constructive while playing. After a lot of work and planning, they put together a Redneck Women/Buckeye Lake cook book. They sold hundreds of books and gave their profits to BLASST. This was the start of their service to the Buckeye Lake area. Since then they have done many great things for the Buckeye Lake area. Some members have left and new ladies joined in over the last four or five years. Now there is a Redneck Poker Run and a Redneck Golf outing. These events have brought in thousands of new dollars for the BLASST. Also that year Rick Rife and Rhonda Carte, better known as R & R, stepped forward along with Jean Arter to sell BLASST t-shirts. Between these three, I bet they sold four hundred t-shirts by themselves. Jean’s son, Jim was a huge supporter of the night boat parade. Safety concerns at ODNR ended it after one year. Boat traffic on the lake for the fireworks show was huge. But many lake residents hold out hope that a night boat parade will come together for some summer night one of these years. In 2007, Michelle Glen and some Redneck women started the BLASST Poker Run. These two events now provide about a fourth of the BLASST’s income. All in all, it turns out that there is huge pride in our nearly 50 year tradition. The lake area is a very patriotic community. We have hundreds of generous donors. Through the years of volunteering it has been my pleasure to get to know many wonderful people. I have enjoyed serving and working with all the Buckeye Lakers. |
This site was last updated 06/24/10
