WINSLOW -- Every Fourth of July, for the last 19 years, Vinnie Falls has been the one behind the scenes.

He's the guy who lights up the sky at Fort Halifax Park.

"I try to give people the best show possible," Falls said. "I call it like being a rock star. I can perform in front of 65,000 people and nobody knows who I am, but they yell.

At the end, when you start hearing people at the park, on the bridge, across the river, out on the road -- the 'ooohs' and the 'ahhhs' -- it's so cool. In that instant, you get goosebumps and that's maybe what draws me back each year."

For Falls, he's come to cherish the memories and thrills of setting off the fireworks display to the Winslow Family Fourth of July Celebration, central Maine's premier Independence Day event.

Falls, 52, of Kingston, N.H., said he has no plans of stopping any time soon. Of the four or five fireworks shows he orchestrates each year, Winslow's is, by far, his favorite, he said.

Setting off fireworks has become a passion for him, but it is just a hobby; his day job is as a jet-engine assembler.

As a kid, Falls said he used to go around to local playgrounds and set off black powder in small cannons. That fascination with explosives took flight when a friend one day asked if Falls would help him with the fireworks display in Kingston.

Falls said he started out working for Dick Townsend at Telstar Display Fireworks of Jaffrey, N.H.

His first fireworks show in central Maine was about 20 years ago -- the first year he got his fireworks license -- when the celebration was held on the other side of the Kennebec River, in Waterville. That infamous celebration, at which alcohol was sold, resulted in chaos and riots and damage to the Two Cent Bridge, drawing the attention of Maine State Police.

"It was crazy," Falls said. "People wouldn't leave unless they saw the fireworks and so they (organizers) said, 'Do 'em.' I had to shoot the show at 7 p.m. You couldn't see when a shell exploded."

The next year started the now 19-year tradition of Winslow's festivities.

Now, Falls has his own company -- Falls Family Fireworks, a subsidiary of Telstar -- and he brings his wife and children along to help set up and set off the show.

His other Maine show is in Eliot.

Falls said he loves the thrill and enjoyment of setting off the fireworks shells, exploding gunpowder and launching and timing fuses. His license plate reads "skypyro."

"You get little flower arrangements blooming; maybe you would call it a garden in the sky," Falls said.

Today, Falls plans to be up at 5 a.m. in New Hampshire, driving around to load up his supplies and equipment, and then will drive over to Maine with his crew, taking six or seven hours to set up a show that will not last longer than 20 minutes.

What if it rains tonight?

"Rain affects us big time; you're dealing with gunpowder and wet gunpowder will not go," Falls said. "And you got to deal with wet grass and keep fuses off the ground and keep everything covered. I hope people stay out there, even if it rains."

As of Friday, forecasts for today called for scattered showers during the day and then winding down for mostly cloudy skies at night.

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com