Kurt Medlin first began trying to make fireworks around age 10 (with the patient tolerance of his mother and the encouragement of his father!). An avid collector of fireworks books and publications, Kurt acquired copies of the classic texts by Weingart, Davis, and Lancaster by his late teens. Kurt joined the PGI in 1982 at age 22, attended his first PGI convention in 1983 and gave his first seminar at the 1986 PGI convention. Kurt worked his first public fireworks display in 1984. Kurt is a life member of both the PGI & WPA and a former board member of both organizations.
Kurt has given seminars at previous PGI conventions and WPA Winter Blast conventions on black powder rockets, tourbillions, girandolas, large bore candles, fountain and wheel construction, and traditional Italian shell building. In addition to hands-on firework making, Kurt is interested in fireworks history and collecting antiquarian fireworks literature.

Scott Morton a relative newcomer to the organized pyro community, has enjoyed fireworks for as long as he can remember. His interest in making fireworks eventually led to his finding Ned Gorski and Fireworking.com, and then into the pyro community with membership in WPA and PGI. Scott has become an accomplished builder of ground and aerial fireworks. His current areas of special interest include Italian Cylinder shells, the glitter effect, and all ground fireworks, specifically items that spin! When not studying or making fireworks, Scott is a fireman and paramedic who enjoys spending time with his wife Amy.

Roberto Ramirez
grew up in Pico Rivera, CA, and fell in love with fireworks as a kid. His fascination with chemistry and fire naturally led him to an interest in pyrotechnics. Roberto joined the WPA in 2004 and hasn’t missed a Winterblast since! His initial interest was to find out how to work on commercial displays which led him to shoot shows with Fireworks America and the Flying Monkeys Pyro Team. In 2006 he took a 4″ Italian shell seminar led by Steve Wilson and decided to focus on making Italian style shells “the old school way”. Roberto has an A.S. degree in Environmental Technology and is currently working at a staging and production company in Southern California. When not shooting firework shows or cooking (another of his interests) he can be found out and about in SoCal supporting the local punk rock scene.

is an accomplished fireworks maker concentrating on the Italian style of shell building. He is an award-winning photographer of fireworks; he has served as a national judge for PGI fireworks competitions and as the San Diego Area VP for WPA. During his career in fireworks, he had been both a consumer dealer of fireworks and a display operator. But most of all, he loves teaching pyrotechnic basics to beginners.