A good crowd turned out Saturday to watch fireworks at Clanton City Park.

“It went off real good, I thought,” Clanton Mayor Billy Joe Driver said. “It was a real good crowd.”

Driver said many locals look forward to the fireworks show every year.

“It gives the folks a break,” he said. “Makes them realize what a great country we’re in.”

Driver said the traditional Clanton fireworks display began in 1986 and was held at the baseball field. The city also had some help putting on the show.

“We had some folks that joined us at the first one,” Driver said. “Then they quit participating.”

But because it caught on as a great way to spend the Fourth, the city decided to keep the fireworks show going.

“It was going so good we couldn’t quit,” Driver said.

In the beginning, the city planned and shot off the fireworks, but in recent years they have hired pyrotechnicians to design and execute the display.

Premier Pyrotechnics handled the fireworks this year. Driver said they used remote control to run the show.

Driver said that a lot of places had to discontinue their fireworks shows this year because of the economy, but he hopes Clanton will continue its Independence Day fireworks show in future years.C