Zambelli Fireworks Internationale has become an explosive success in the business world.
The 110-year-old company has provided displays for every president since John F. Kennedy.
Its displays have been seen at tens of thousands of events, including Super Bowls, papal visits, World Fairs and, of course, Fourth of July celebrations.
Baltimoreans will see the company in action tomorrow, when it illuminates the Inner Harbor's skyline during the city's 2003 Independence Day celebration.
But Baltimore is just one of the cities that will see the firm's handiwork tomorrow night - Zambelli fires more than 1 million shells for about 1,800 Fourth of July displays every year.
The company isn't just a pyrotechnic powerhouse, however.
It's the family legacy of founder Antonio Zambelli.
His journey toward success began just prior to the turn of the last century, when he emigrated from Naples, Italy, to the United States.
Zambelli carried with him on his trans-Atlantic trip a small black journal that contained many of his secret formulas for grand displays of sparks, explosions and smoke.
With those recipes and a vision, he set up shop in the burgeoning industrial village of New Castle, Pa., a small town near the Shenango River. Business opportunities abounded in the town's booming tin plate industry, and Zambelli, a strong family man, worked the mills to support his family.
But all the while, he stayed focused on fireworks.
Either before or after working a long shift at the mill, the young entrepreneur would spend hours perfecting his creations, which were first used to celebrate saints' days and other special Italian holidays in the tiny town. The displays were popular at family events as well.
"It's a form of entertainment that can amuse anyone from a 2-year-old to a 102-year-old," said Marcy Zambelli, granddaughter of Antonio and company spokeswoman.
Now, more than 100 years later, what started as the hopeful hobby of one man has become the largest fireworks company in the nation.
Though the business has grown, the tightly knit Zambelli clan retains control of the company, which has regional headquarters and sales offices around the country.
Antonio's son, 78-year-old George "Boom-Boom" Zambelli Sr., currently runs the show, while family members operate the various aspects of the business, with some even traveling with the products to the sites of major holiday displays.
Marcy Zambelli believes the yearly Independence Day displays are popular because they bring back fond remembrances.
Large fireworks displays stir up "memories of laying on a blanket or of being at an amusement park with mom or dad," she said.
They create that "warm and fuzzy feeling." Antonio would be proud.
"I think he would be ecstatic. My grandfather was very family-oriented, as a lot of the Italians are. He would be warm-hearted to know that people are doing this as a family," she said.
