By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Fireworks in Naples will mark the end of the summer season, rather than Independence Day this year.

The public fireworks display, which takes place every year on the Naples Causeway, has been rescheduled for the Saturday during Labor Day weekend. The Naples Board of Selectmen voted on the date — provided that public safety officials are able to coordinate enough coverage of the Causeway on those dates.

On the evening of July 4, which was last Tuesday, the fireworks show was postponed after an altercation involving a firearm occurred between two males on the Naples Causeway. Officials decided to stop the fireworks show while law enforcement personnel focused on arresting the suspect. The 16-year-old suffered non-life threatening injuries and was initially taken to Bridgton Hospital, but then transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland via LifeFlight. The suspect, Alexzander Goodwin, 18, of Bridgton was arrested two days later on Park Avenue in Portland. He was charged with reckless conduct and elevated aggravated assault, which is a Class A crime and carries a maximum 30 years in prison sentence. Goodwin remains at the Cumberland County Jail. According to published reports, Goodwin’s grandmother during a court hearing asked to take custody of the teen, saying she would have him wear an ankle bracelet. The judge denied the request. Cash bail was set at $100,000.

During the selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Naples Interim Town Manager Bill Giroux talked about trying to make up the fireworks display the following weekend. 

“Once we realized that it was going to be difficult for public safety to support fireworks this Saturday, we had no choice but to call it off. I know it’s hard for people to understand how much public safety coordination goes into this, but we couldn’t pull enough county people and enough area EMS people together. We said, ‘let’s call it off,’” Giroux said.

Now, it became the board’s responsibility to decide on the best date to hold the pyrotechnics show.

“You can pipe in what you think your constituents think is a good date going forward,” Giroux told the board.

He recommended reconvening the Fireworks Planning Committee as the next step in getting the ball rolling.

Selectman Colin Brackett asked if there were any stipulations with the fireworks company that handles the contract with the town.

“They only need a few days to renew the permit with Fire Marshall’s Office,” Giroux responded.

“A safe date is Labor Day weekend. You could schedule it for Saturday with a rain date of Sunday,” he said.

The board accepted that recommendation, voting, 5-0, to have its fireworks show on Saturday, Sept. 2, with rain date of Sunday, Sept. 3, if that dates works for all parties involved.