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\u201cThere were 56 pages of engineering for building just the mortar,\u201d says Tim Borden, the mastermind behind every Winter Carnival and Fourth of July fireworks display in Steamboat for the better part of the last two decades. \u201cI had the mortar made in Washington and brought down here on a semi-truck. Ed MacArthur was an important member of our four-person team. With his company, Native Excavating, he did the finish welding on the mortar, and with the help of his son Charlie, spent weeks burying all mortars on Emerald, the last of which was essentially a shaft 26 feet deep that required de-watering. There are a lot of logistics involved and it\u2019s an enormous cost. My wife doesn\u2019t even know what I spent on the world-record firework,\u201d he says with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
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Borden\u2019s story is about more than a local Steamboat attorney who built the world\u2019s largest firework in his backyard barn. Borden came to Steamboat in 1974 and worked as the public defender. In the late 70s, he and his business partner decided to invest in the blink-and-you\u2019ll-miss-it town of Lay, Colorado located 20 minutes west of Craig on Highway 40. They purchased 58 of the 60 lots in town including the gas station and the school. \u201cI realized that since we owned all the property back then, heck, it was almost 45 years ago, that you could obtain a permit for fireworks by having a sheriff and a mayor of a town sign off it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He got the permit, of course.<\/p>\n
When Borden approached Steamboat County Commissioners to get permission to put on a fireworks display in Steamboat at the Charlotte Perry house in the late 70s, the County Commissioners said they couldn’t give permission but said “have a good show!” After a number of years with what Borden refers to as \u201ctacit and limited approval\u201d he produced fireworks into the late \u201880s. Finally, the City of Steamboat approached him to put on the public fireworks display so he could take that burden off the Fire Department.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City came to me and said, \u2018we\u2019ll buy \u2018em, you blow \u2018em up and shoot \u2018em off,\u2019 and I thought, \u2018This is super,\u2019 and that\u2019s what got me started, and so, we started building the show. When the Steamboat Winter Sports Club first approached me to do the fireworks on Howelsen Hill for the Winter Carnival, I could not have been happier.\u201d<\/p>\n Borden has been in charge ever since then. These days, he\u2019s fully permitted and insured. For over 15 years, Borden has provided all the fireworks for the show. He\u2019s especially happy to have the chance to produce a fireworks show in the winter now that dry conditions have often prohibited a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n All good things must eventually come to an end, and this year will unfortunately be his last. Borden was seriously injured in an accident a year ago and is now paralyzed from the waist down. “2020 was the last year for me being on the hill for Winter Carnival, but I’ve continued to donate the cost of all fireworks, including what is used for the Lighted Man and Gooding Brothers ‘Roman Candle Dancers.’ I donated a couple thousand pounds of fireworks, my firing systems, and all mortars to the City of Steamboat in 2021.”<\/p>\n But the show isn\u2019t over\u2014yet.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year I have one last large firework that will likely be the largest in the state if not the U.S.\u201d he says. \u201cFrankly, I\u2019m surprised we still hold the world record and that no one from China or Japan has said, \u2018Why have we allowed this little town in the U.S. to hold the record so long?\u2019\u201d Borden is proud to uphold such a beloved Winter Carnival tradition and with a flawless safety record to boot. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a passion of mine, but I don\u2019t put my efforts ahead of anyone else in this community. What makes Steamboat so unique is there are so many of us that volunteer our time and money to support the town. It takes a village, and I\u2019m just happy to be part of that village.\u201d Borden may be retiring, but you can be sure he\u2019ll go out with a bang.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Borden-1.jpg\")
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