Biggest fireworks package sells for $500

Sale of fireworks in Rohnert Park became legal starting Friday morning through the holiday, and in Petaluma starting Saturday, July 1.

Many pop-up businesses that market the celebratory toys sell their wares as fundraisers to benefit children's sports leagues.

Four cities in Sonoma County allow fireworks businesses: Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sebastopol and Cloverdale. Fireworks are illegal in unincorporated Sonoma County. Marin County allows no sales of fireworks. Napa County has one town — St. Helena — that allows fireworks sales. Solano County allows sale of fireworks in Dixon, Rio Vista and Suisun City.

Statewide, sale of fireworks is allowed in 295 cities. The product is viewed as a fire hazard and a minor threat to public safety in all other communities, and use of fireworks in areas where they are banned can lead to fines.

A fireworks stand opened Friday in Rohnert Park at the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Commerce Blvd. The business runs for five days until July 4 and benefits the Rohnert Park Warriors football league in Rohnert Park. The league has more than 100 players with five teams.

Lauren Feagin serves as a director at large on the league's board. She managed the fireworks stand in its first shift on June 30. 'This is our biggest fundraiser,' she said, 'where we get our money.'

'Every youth organization in Rohnert Park is allowed to have one,' Feagin said, including football, softball and other sports groups. She raised five children.

The Big Bang fireworks kit, the stand's most expensive product, sells for $500 plus taxes. The Warriors stand sells out of that one ever year, Feagin said. 'When my kids were young, this is what we would buy,' she said. 'It's great for the neighborhood. All the neighbors pitch in.'

Hunter Cottrell, a student who plays several positions on one of the Warriors teams, does a quick count of the number of different kinds of fireworks in the Big Bang: nearly three dozen, with 122 individual incendiary items. 'Thirty-five big ones,' he said. He plays on a Junior Pee Wee team. 'I play cornerback, receiver and running back,' he said.

'He's the fastest on the team,' said Casey Cottrell, Hunter's dad, who worked the stand as a volunteer. 'There are at least 30 different varieties' of fireworks sold, Cottrell said. His daughter cheers for the team.

His father, Rulon Cottrell, is CEO of Scandia Family Fun Center on Redwood Drive in Rohnert Park. The business is owned by Skandia Funland, a California corporation with directors based in Utah.

On any shift there are two board members and three additional volunteers running the stand. 'We're working on a 10-hour day,' Feagin said.

The Warriors includes: Mitey Mite Football, coached by Bruce Rhode; Junior Pee Wee Football, coached by Jim Adam; Pee Wee Football, coached by Gabe Riveras; Junior Midget Football, coached by John Mefferd; and Midget Football, coached by Dennis Boyd.

James Dunn covers technology, biotech, law, the food industry, and banking and finance. Reach him at: james.dunn@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4257

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