Village at Woodside draws hundreds for fireworks

Jul. 5—The Village at Woodside provided the setting for an Independence Day blast Tuesday, with a fireworks show taking place and hundreds of visitors gathering for a family-friendly, picnic-style atmosphere.

The soundtrack, aside from about 18 minutes of mortar-style explosions, had a strong local flavor, with the musical duo of Preston and Weston — Wayne Preston and David Weston — in action, providing songs made famous by Stevie Wonder, Chicago, Bill Withers and other creators.

"It was great," said Jason Tufts, general manager of The Village Cafe, which was in ultra-high gear in helping with hospitality. "It was a huge day for me, numbers-wise. We probably did two good days of sales in one evening. We sold, like, over 200 burgers and about 35 pounds of pulled pork. It was a good time, and we sold out of gelato."

The gathering officially began at 6 p.m., and the rockets' red glare — not counting sporadic snap, crackle and pop from neighbors before sundown — started at 9:30 p.m., with plenty of blue, white and other colors in the mix. Traffic was clear about an hour later.

The Lobster Dogs food truck was part of the gathering, and dozens of customers tested the inventory and staff. Italian-style shaved ice, from a truck with Sunset Slush of Augusta, was another culinary option, offering brief relief from temperatures in the 90s. Lines for both trucks stretched for 15-20 yards and occasionally farther.

Bridget Kerley, corporate events manager with Woodside Development, estimated the crowd at over 1,000 and expressed gratitude for Aiken Department of Public Safety's support in dealing with traffic and preventing unwelcome surprises.

Attendance for the 2023 event, she said, was much higher than in previous years, and planning has begun for the 2024 event, in terms of reviewing what went well this week and what would be done better next time around.

"It was very upbeat," said Steve Ranzer, who attended with friend Pam Hoffman. "I was impressed. I've been there in the past, and this just seemed to be better-attended than I can recall. Everybody there seemed to be having a great time."

He added, "We left just before the fireworks... and there were still people coming. I thought it was better-done than any that I've been at before. It was very exciting. It was great fun. We said down and we talked to a couple that we'd never before — husband and wife — and we just had about a half-an-hour conversation with them, found out about them. They found out about us. It was just a great way to socialize and participate in the holiday and be part of the community."