Residents of Howard County looking to celebrate the Fourth of July with grand aerial explosions or just a little sparkle and smoke can find a wide variety of options at four shops along Routes 5 and 240. 

George and Kathi Miller have been selling fireworks at Stonemaple Farm just north of Franklin on Route 5 for about 20 years. 

“Our top line is our Red Rhino brand,” George Miller said. “The owner, Steve, does a very good job on his quality control. We’ve had pretty consistent luck with it. They’re very big, they do exactly what they should do, with good color.”

Stonemaple Farm carries a series of 500-gram fireworks for large explosions. 

“You can put on a show that’s very similar to what a city would put on with the fireworks these days,” Miller said. 

“We have a wide variety of fountains, multi-shots, and reloadable artilleries.”

The top sellers are smaller items for kids and families.

“If a family comes in and they want to spend very little money, we have items that even though they’re three, four or five dollars, they’ll put on a show that’s equal to a lot of 10-dollar items,” Miller said. “We go out and hand select everything so we know exactly what it does.”

Hometown Fireworx has been in its current location, near Dollar General, for two years. It’s a Conrow family business that offers Spirit of 76 line fireworks.

According to Greg Hough, some of the top sellers this year have been, “500-gram cakes, 500-gram fountains, all the stuff that’s popular for the kids, fountains, anything with a parachute.”

The family business is active in the community, donating to Fayette athletics and sponsoring other local causes. 

R&S Fireworks has moved out of the tent and into its new location on Friday, June 26. The new building sits on the site of the old car wash just north of Fayette. 

John Schell and his employees are happy to be inside the new air-conditioned building with more shelf space for a wide selection of Black Cat fireworks. 

“We have several new artillery shells, new 500 grams, new fountains,” Schell said. 

Stonemaple, Hometown, and R&S all feature video displays where customers can see how the different types of items perform. 

Between Glasgow and Fayette, you can find Triangle Fireworks at the corner of Route 5 and Route 3. Patricia Rivero has sold fireworks at Larry’s Triangle services for four years. 

She carries items from Black Cat, Sky Bacon and Brothers. 

“We have new neon sparklers this year and adult snappers,” Rivero said. “I have lots of new fountains and multi shots this year.”

Look up all four locations on Facebook for updates about inventory as well as any prizes and drawings offered for customers.