Fireworks An Important Tradition For Canutillo Family
by ABC-7 ReporterDarren Hunt
For many El Pasoans, fireworks are a family tradition. Some spend hundreds of dollars on them. Others spend … thousands?
For as long as the Martinez family of Canutillo can remember, fireworks have been a huge part of their Fourth of July celebration.
“It wouldn’t be the Fourth without them,” Daniel Martinez said.
For the Martinez family, getting together to shoot off fireworks is part of their family folklore.
“Without fireworks, it would still be a nice barbecue, getting together to celebrate Independence Day,” said Daniel’s wife, Caite. “But, of course, it just wouldn’t be as fun.”
Or as expensive. “We usually spend, I don’t know,” Daniel Martinez said, “800 to 900 bucks.”
Angie Caire owns Coyote Fireworks in Canutillo. “A lot of people were brought up with it,” Caire said.
She said it’s not rare for a family to come up to her stand, drop a thousand dollars on the counter and spend it all on fireworks.
“Every year we have different people that just come regularly,” Caire said. “We see them every year and we get to see their family kind of grow up. It’s kind of neat.”
It’s also profitable. “We’ve done well enough in the past to put me through college, to put my cousins through college,” Caire said.
The pop and crackle of the Fourth is a tradition the Martinez family plans to pass on with the new addition of little six-month-old Quinn Patrick, who will be celebrating his first Independence Day.
The Martinez family lives on the levee in Canutillo and throws a party on the Fourth for about 50 family members every year. They said they always clean up after themselves and are extremely careful while shooting off fireworks around children.
“Probably, next year, he’ll start holding sparklers, get him ready,” Caite Martinez said. “Probably by five years old, he’ll start doing Roman candles. Definitely it is a big thing for me to pass it on to my children. It’s a great thing because it creates memories.”
To the Martinez family, the cost makes no difference. “I’m pretty sure we’ll keep on doing it for as long as my son can remember,” Daniel Martinez said.
