Jim Widmann is a long-time fireworks enthusiast and professional. Jim has shot shows for most of the fireworks companies in the Northeast US and in 1985 started a fireworks display company based in Connecticut. He was a founding member and president of the Connecticut Pyrotechnics Association.
As a kid, July 5th was Jim’s favorite day of the year because he would find leftover dud fireworks from the neighborhood displays and cobble them together into something new and of his own making. Jim is a 30+ year member of the PGI and has competed and won in many of the display shell categories. He has a CT display operator’s license and is also licensed in CT as a pyrotechnic manufacturer. Jim is widely known as the inventor of the WASP automatic shell pasting machine and has sold hundreds of these machines in over 22 countries. In recent years, Jim has successfully built and shot world record shells (up to 62”) in North America and the Middle East.

Mike has been intrigued by the beauty and ephemeral nature of fireworks for as long as he can remember. However, until 2009 it never occurred to him that anyone could legally make their own fireworks as a hobby. At that time, he discovered two fireworks clubs that changed everything about the way he viewed fireworks and began his journey as a fireworks maker. Those clubs were the Western Pyrotechnic Association (WPA) and Pyrotechnic Guild International (PGI). Mike uses his background in physics and engineering as a foundation to make traditional and not-so-traditional fireworks. He thinks fireworks is the perfect blend of science, technology, engineering, art, and math to express his creative visions. He strongly believes that education will preserve the art of fireworks and make it safer for the hobbyist to participate. You will often find Mike teaching or facilitating educational seminars and workshops related to fireworks at club events. Don’t get him talking about fireworks unless you have an hour to burn.