Monroe mayor apologizes for the fireworks snafu on July 4

MONROE, GA – (July 12, 2026) At the July Monroe City Council meeting last week, Monroe Mayor John Howard took a moment to apologize for the fact that some of the crowd assembled for the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display did not have the viewing experience they had expected.

For several years, the July Fourth fireworks had been launched from The Bridge of Georgia, a special education school for children on Blaine Street. This year, however, the school had just had a new roof installed, and asked the city some days before the holiday to move its launching location for the fireworks to avoid any potential for damage to the roof.

Howard said at the council meeting, and again in a Wednesday interview, that the fireworks display vendor had indicated to the city that moving the launch location would not change the sight lines from previous years’ displays. However, some of the fireworks were not clearly visible to people who were watching from a stretch of East Spring Street that had previously provided clear views of the pyrotechnics.

“There were a couple (of fireworks) that maybe they weren’t high enough,” the mayor said Wednesday.

During the council meeting, Howard apologized to the council for not letting them know about the changed launching location for the fireworks, while also noting he had been told it wouldn’t affect the viewing experience.

Nonetheless, the mayor recognized “a communication issue on my part,” and promised to do a better job in the future.

“We will take a look at how we do that (stage the fireworks display) next year, what we’re going to move forward with, and I’ll communicate it all to you,” Howard told the council.

“Although I did get chewed out the next day or so, the vast majority of folks did enjoy it, even if they did have to move a little bit,” Howard further told the council, as he invited them, if they hear anything further about the fireworks, to “tell them it’s my fault.”