Fireworks Stand Open in What Cheer

WHAT CHEER – KaBoom Fireworks, a fireworks stand located at 503 S Barnes St in What Cheer, opened for its second season on June 13. The store will remain open until July 7, selling fireworks from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12:00-8:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Owner Jim Linder runs the store, set up in a modified shipping crate, along with his wife, children and a few older veterans he is friends with.

“There was this old guy, Jim (Dalziel). They call him Pickles,” said Linder. “He used to be set up across Coal Creek, and he had been selling fireworks, going down to Missouri to get them, for 50 years, probably. He’d come back up here and sell them and stuff. When they legalized them here in Iowa, he opened a container similar to this one...Just kinda in passing, I had mentioned, ‘You know, hey, if you ever got out of that or something, just let me know.’ Well then, a year kinda come by and he didn’t open up that year, then that next spring, he had actually stopped at my doorstep, and knocked on the door, wondering ‘Hey are you still serious about opening a fireworks store?’ I talked to my wife, we were still interested in doing it. He helped me through starting it up and going through regulations.”

Linder boasted about his varied selection, explaining that unlike a lot of store chains, his shop is independent, meaning it can sell from different brands. He sells snaps, parachutes, bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, sparklers, smoke bombs, lanterns, cakes, artilleries, fountains, and more.