The TNT Fireworks tent found in the Walmart parking lot in Clinton helps raise funds for the Apostolic Church.
CLINTON – After missing last year’s July 4th celebration due to COVID, Apostolic Church members are finally back to their usual places in the Walmart parking lot in Clinton for the annual fireworks sale from the church.
This is a long-standing event that has lasted for more than two decades, as part of the church’s fundraising efforts.
“We’ve been doing this with our church since 2000, right here in Clinton – I think that’s when we started,” said William McDaniel of the Apostolic Church, located on Lorraine Road, Clinton.
“We only took a year off, plus last year when we couldn’t do it,” he continued. “But other than that, we’ve performed it every year since then and this year will be about our 22nd time, I think.”
The Apostolic Church partners with TNT Fireworks, which has been in existence for 100 years and supplies the church with the products it sells. The church settles in, sells the product, and collects a percentage of the product.
“This is our only retail fundraiser that we have a year. We do that here and it keeps us from having to sell small plates and things like that all year round, ”McDaniel said. “That way we can do other things for fun, like our street fair, where we have our little barbecue and things like that, but it’s our main fundraiser every year.”
The event lasts pretty much all day for the days leading up to July 4th as they start selling early in the morning and stay until late at night and it lasts a little over a week.
“We’re open from nine in the morning until 10 or 11 at night, by the time we leave here it’s dark outside,” McDaniel said. “We’re here all day, rain or shine. If it rains, we drop the shutters, but we’re still open. If it’s during those hours, we’ll be open no matter what. And we’re usually here for about eight days.
McDaniel also pointed out that if your fireworks aren’t good, they have free replacements for customers.
“I know there are also other people who are trying to sell fireworks, but we offer a flawless guarantee,” he said. “If you come in and something doesn’t end as planned or whatever, they can bring it back because we have that flawless guarantee with this company here.”
For those of the Apostolic Church, this fundraising is also about making connections with the community.
“We love being here – we’re more excited to be here to meet and talk to people than for the money,” McDaniel said. “We look forward to this every year and were devastated last year that we couldn’t do it. I missed this so much that I rode last year and asked other people if they needed any help as we didn’t have our tent.
“It’s just a passion we have and it’s a way to reach out to our community,” he added.
Contact Michael B. Hardison at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
