Ski jump fireworks stalled by alpaca litigation

This week, SWSA president Ken Barker said he hoped to have the fireworks show at this year's ski jumps, but he has not yet obtained the necessary permits because he is waiting to see if the lawsuit is resolved in time.

Advertisements for the 2008 ski jumps list the fireworks show as an event Friday night, along with a new event where jumpers try to land on an illuminated target in night-time jumps.

"We were hoping that the suit would be dropped or the litigation would be complete," Barker said. "We'll continue with Friday evening target jumping under the lights."

Barker said all legal requirements were met for last year's display. The Connecticut state fire marshal licensed the Satre Hill site, which was found to be the required distance from neighbors' property lines.

Barker also said the fireworks were well received by people in town and there was a demand for a show this year.

"We sympathize with the fact that one of her alpacas miscarried, for sure, but that happens in the animal world," Barker said. He also mentioned that the fetus was not lost until two weeks after the fireworks display.

Granbery said it took two weeks for the fetus to die and be expelled. She said the entire herd sounded alarms around the clock for at least two weeks after the fireworks and that the mare that miscarried sounded alarms into June.

One solution would be to move either the fireworks display or the animals to a different location, but neither party is willing to relocate.

"Transporting is stressful," Granbery said. "In the alpaca business, you never transport a pregnant female in the first or last trimester."

Granbery said she currently has nine pregnant mares; five are in their last trimester.

Also, the logistics of moving a herd of 38 animals are daunting. Granbery said there are companies that specialize in such tasks, but they usually need to be booked months in advance. She does not know where she would take the animals if she did relocate them. But if the fireworks do go on, she feels she would have no alternative.

"I would have to move the whole herd," she said. "I couldn't afford to lose another year's fiber crop. At least the males wouldn't be upset."

Barker said moving the fireworks would also be a difficult task.

"We'd have to license another area, which becomes a long process with the fire marshall," he said.

Granbery said she wishes SWSA would consider replacing the fireworks with another, quieter event.

"I would love SWSA to consider, instead of something noisy, maybe a light show," she said. "That could be beautiful against the white hill and would solve everything."