You can bet fireworks will be grand this year

Who has the best fireworks, Newburyport or Salisbury?

There's a $600 wager on the table to decide it, and the bettors don't fit the mold you might expect.

Salisbury's Sand and Sea Festival is touting it will shoot off "the largest fireworks display North of Boston" tonight starting at 10. But Newburyport's Yankee Homecoming has traditionally considered its fireworks display, held in early August, to be the area's best.

There's community pride at stake -- enough pride to persuade Newburyport's Sheriff Frank Cousins and Salisbury police Chief David L'Esperance to put their money where their mouths are.

"They made a mistake telling me their fireworks are going to be better than ours," L'Esperance said of Newburyport's boast. "Then Sheriff Frank Cousins and I started laughing about it, and the bet was the result. State police Lt. Jim Condon and I are putting up $100 each and wagering Salisbury will have the best fireworks this year, and Frank Cousins is putting up $100 in favor of Newburyport's fireworks. Newbury police Chief Mike Reilly is going to be the judge."

Cousins said, "I'm always willing to make a fair wager when Newburyport is concerned."

The money won't end up in any wagerer's pocket, L'Esperance and Cousins said, but rather will go to one of two worthy local organizations.

"If Salisbury wins, Pettengill House will get the money because they're here, and if Newburyport wins, Link House gets the money because it's there. They're both great organizations," L'Esperance said. "And (state) Sen. (Steven) Baddour and state Rep. (Michael Costello) said they'll match the money."

With $600 at stake and possibly going to a deserving social service agency, Reilly's on the spot.

"I don't know how I got involved, but Chief L'Esperance called me and told me I'm judging," Reilly chuckled. "I told him I'll do it, but that I can be bought for coffee, black and hot. I spoke with Rep. Costello (Tuesday), and he assured me he's matching the bet."

The state police are involved because Condon is the commander of the State Police Mounted Unit, which has patrolled at Salisbury Beach for years, L'Esperance said. Condon's loyalties are not just in Salisbury because his troopers -- and horses -- work here, L'Esperance said, but because he lives in Salisbury during the summer.

Newburyport could be facing some serious competition this year. According to Salisbury Chamber of Commerce President Maria Miles, word on the street is Salisbury's fireworks display is costing $60,000, with event supporter Wayne Capolupo involved in raising or contributing some or all of the amount. A Salisbury resident and business owner, Capolupo is president of the Salisbury Boardwalk Partnership, the organization behind the festival. The fireworks will be shot off a barge 1,000 feet off the beach.

The $60,000 figure didn't frighten Cousins, who said when he gets back from vacation he plans to see what he can do to help Newburyport's fireworks cause (last year's budget for Newburyport's fireworks was $31,000). As for Reilly's caffeine addiction, he thinks he might be able to come up with a better way to deliver Reilly some hot, black coffee.

"I think I'll take him out to lunch at the Agawam Diner," Cousins said. "That's always a good time."

Reilly plans to be at both fireworks displays and laughed when asked if the bribes would interfere with his objectivity.

"Believe me, it's all going to work out well in the end. I promise you," Reilly said.

Eagle-Tribune
Published: June 29, 2007
By Angeljean Chiaramida