The Fireworks Over Meyersville Circle Come From Just Down New Vernon Road

Beatrice Schwarzkopf told the Echoes-Sentinel about her first year in Long Hill. One December evening she "heard some explosions down the street and had no idea what was happening." Then she saw fireworks from her house in Gillette. About ten years later, her family and friends gather at her place for hot chocolate before they all walk over to the Meyersville tree lighting.

The tree lighting is on Sunday, December 6, 2026. At its November 4 meeting, the Long Hill Township Committee passed a resolution on the Meyersville Tree Lighting Association's special event license for the annual tree lighting at Meyersville Circle, with the application awaiting Morris County approval. The same resolution approved fireworks at the Meyersville Ball Field on New Vernon Road, said the necessary permits were approved, and named who will set them off: Garden State Fireworks of Millington. The company has run shows at a presidential inauguration and an Olympic closing ceremony. In December, it puts on a show a short drive from its own base.

A company that started in North Bergen and settled near New Vernon

Garden State Fireworks dates back to 1890. That year Augustine Santore opened his first New Jersey fireworks plant. The company says the Santore family has owned and run it ever since. In 2016, TAPinto told the rest of the story. August Santore came over from Italy and opened his first shop in North Bergen, but the business soon moved to New Vernon, where it was called New Vernon Fireworks. It took the name Garden State Fireworks in the 1960s, when August's sons Nunzio, Charles and Ralph took over. Since the 1970s it has been run by brothers August and Nunzio Santore, with help from their children and in-laws.

Nunzio Santore explained to TAPinto why the family left North Bergen:

"When they left North Bergen, it just got too congested. They were there for the first few years but there was actually seven or eight different fireworks companies all in North Bergen."

The company has worked far from home. In that same 2016 article, Nunzio Santore said his crew put on more than 400 shows a year across the country and sometimes overseas, in places like California, New Mexico, Florida, Italy and Canada. TAPinto reported that the firm won a competition in Monte Carlo in 1982. It went back the next year and won what Santore called the International Grand World Fireworks "Interlauriat" Championship. The company's own list of accomplishments includes President Joseph Biden's 2021 inauguration, the closing ceremony of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and shows at Walt Disney World and on the National Mall.

Its mailing address is a post office box in Millington. In 2023 the Echoes-Sentinel described the company as located "just down the street on New Vernon Road." That year it donated the fireworks for the Meyersville event, and the paper said it had "once again" done so.

December is the quiet season for a fireworks company

Most of the company's year builds toward one month. In a 2010 NJ.com story from the Millington operation, Nunzio Santore said, "It takes us a year to prepare for one month of the year." The paper reported that the company would coordinate about 200 displays in the first five days of that July, including 40 in New Jersey on July 3 and 40 more on July 4. Its workforce grew from 25 in winter to nearly 200 for the season.

Those figures are from 2010, but the seasonal pattern hasn't changed. Summer sends trailers full of shells from Millington to shows from Florida to San Diego. The Meyersville show happens in the off-season, close to home, for a crowd made up of neighbors. Nunzio Santore told TAPinto that crowd size doesn't change what he gets out of a show: "It doesn't matter if it's a small show or a really large show, when it's over [and] you hear the people cheering, it just makes it worthwhile."

Volunteers run the rest of the night

The fireworks are the loudest part of the tree lighting, but local volunteers do most of the work. The Echoes-Sentinel's 2023 preview said the event "is planned and presented every year by the Meyersville Tree Lighting Committee, a small group of local volunteers." Members of the Long Hill Chamber of Commerce and the recreation advisory committee served light refreshments and played holiday classics. Members of the Township Committee grilled hot pretzels, which the paper called a local tradition. Guests were asked to bring a tray of cookies to share. The 2023 event started at 5 p.m. with Santa's arrival, then the tree lighting and the fireworks. After that, children could meet Santa and pose for photos with him.

The Echoes-Sentinel's recap of last year's event, held on Sunday, Dec. 7, reported a sizable turnout of local families. People kept warm with free hot chocolate, coffee and pastries. Emergency Medical Services Crew Chief Jeff Rosen told the paper that what he likes is seeing "all of the different types of services come together: the firemen, the police, EMS, and Santa and his team." Rosen said he had been on the squad for 25 years and his daughter for 11. He named Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Scanlon, who is also president of the First Aid Squad, as the person who sets the event in motion. The paper described her as "the powerhouse behind the event."

The event has been around for a long time. An earlier Echoes-Sentinel preview, for a Sunday, Dec. 4 edition, called it the "29th annual." In last year's recap, Gillette preschool teacher Madeline Taylor said she had attended for more than 30 years. She said she now watches children she once taught grow up "and seeing them in a different way than in preschool."

This year's license resolution adds one more local service to the list. It says the Long Hill Police Department approved the application and will provide the staffing the event needs.

Other local events before December 6

The same groups that run the tree lighting fill the calendar in the weeks before it. Both volunteer fire companies appear on the Nov. 4 agenda as well, each holding a coin toss in its own village.

Details for the bee program are on the Friends of Great Swamp event page, and the group lists another session of the same program for Sunday, Dec. 13. The Fall Market Craft Fair and Santa Storytime are on the library's calendar.

On the night itself, a few details from earlier years are worth knowing:

• Two locations. The tree is at Meyersville Circle. The fireworks go up from the Meyersville Ball Field on New Vernon Road.
• Bring cookies. Guests were asked to bring a tray of cookies to share in 2023.
• Expect booms after dark. Neighbors nearby can expect loud bangs. That's how Beatrice Schwarzkopf first found out about the event.
• Check the start time. The 2023 event began at 5 p.m. Look for the association's 2026 announcement before you head out.

I love that a family business with a show on the National Mall on its résumé lights up the sky over Meyersville Circle every December. If you're new to Long Hill, or you have friends who might be moving here, and you'd like help finding your way to traditions like this one, Karen Gray is glad to share what she knows about life in the township's villages. Let's Connect.