What started as a birthday wish has turned into a way to celebrate an Imperial man’s late mother with the community she served.
Shad DeBoor, 52, said he was having a pool installed at his home in 2020 when his mother, Terry Bates, made a request.
“My mom used to always give us crap because her birthday is July 3 and we would always be at the lake with one of the boats, and then when we were getting the pool done, she said, ‘Hey, maybe we can start having a birthday party here at the house,’ and I said, ‘You know what, Mom, from here on out, we’ll have your birthday party here. We’ll have fireworks, the whole shebang.’ And then she passed away two months later unexpectedly,” DeBoor said.
Terry, who lived in Herculaneum, died from cancer on Dec. 29, 2020, at age 66. As her following birth date drew near, DeBoor knew he still wanted to hold the party.
“I made a promise to her, so I kept it.”
DeBoor said July 3, 2021, was the first year he held a birthday celebration for his mother in his backyard and set off fireworks in her honor. DeBoor’s brother, Tyler Bates, 48, of Festus, said DeBoor’s fireworks show grew bigger and bigger each year after that.
“He decided to get his pyro license to shoot bigger fireworks,” Bates said.
After the first two years, the celebration became large enough that it needed to be moved to allow more people to attend. DeBoor chose Bates Memorial Park in Herculaneum, which is named after their grandfather, Nick Bates. The park is near the Herculaneum Amvets 42 location, where Terry often volunteered her cooking.
“Last year around 3,000 people showed up, and it was an amazing event,” Bates said.
Now Bates said the yearly event is about to get even bigger.
“The event was so incredible last year that the city of Herky has partnered with him to make it even bigger and better than last year,” Bates said. “This was one of the best fireworks shows I have ever seen, and this thing has really blossomed into something,”
This year’s show will start at about 9:20 p.m. July 3.
A pyromusical show
DeBoor said the fireworks show is a pyromusical show that choreographs fireworks in time with specially selected songs. He said he likes to choose patriotic songs and songs that his mother liked. He said last year’s show was a little more than 20 minutes long, and he plans for this year to be about 25 minutes long.
DeBoor’s wife, Nicole, 40, said it’s an arduous process to plan such a long pyromusical show, and it takes DeBoor all year, even with help from friends.
“They started planning it last year, like two days after the show ended,” Nicole said. “So, on July 5, we had the songs picked out already for this year and they were purchasing new fireworks. They have to choreograph it all. They spend a lot of time planning all of this. It’s not just simply shooting off fireworks. It’s a lot of thought and time that goes into this.”
DeBoor said a big reason that he’s been able to do the show as big as he has is the willingness of some companies, such as Rocket Fireworks in Wright City, to sell to him at wholesale prices after hearing his story of honoring his mother.
In previous years, DeBoor said, he had paid out of pocket for the fireworks show, but he had so many people interested in donating that Nicole set up a 501(C)3 for the Light Up the Sky Foundation to accept donations.
He said fundraisers have been held by the Herculaneum Amvets and Post 42 Golf, and the foundation also has received donations from Thomas Industrial Coating, Waites Financial Services as well as many donations from individuals. He said the city also has reimbursed him for some of the fireworks this year.
“We started out at $400 in my backyard, and now we’ve got $30,000 in the show,” DeBoor said.
Culinary scholarship
DeBoor said his mother was a generous person who was always volunteering to help others, whether it was coaching Little League, participating in the Amvets Ladies Auxiliary, cooking meals for others or volunteering to work at the Amvets on Thanksgiving so that people who didn’t have a family would have somewhere to go to celebrate.
“She was an overall great woman who died too soon,” DeBoor said.
In honor of Terry’s love of cooking, the Light Up the Sky Foundation has started to raise money for culinary scholarships in Terry’s name.
Those interested in donating to the Light Up the Sky Foundation for either next year’s July 3 celebration, or to contribute to the culinary scholarship can email lightuptheskyfoundation@gmail.com, or donations may be made on PayPal to LightUptheSkyFoundation@gmail.com or on Venmo to @LightUptheSkyFoundation.