Howdy byu community, it’s martyinhawaii checking in

Due to this coronavirus thing, I’ve been spending way too many hours inside. I’ve watched all my byu football highlights (1969-98) on VHS... TWICE, and I’ve cleaned about every nook and cranny in the entire house. While I was cleaning I found some old things from back when I attended byu. Old pictures, journals, and keepsakes. My favorite was a picture of me and Floyd Millet I found under my wife’s jukebox! Those were the days, I never was officially on the roster but I definitely hustled and bustled with the boys if you know what I mean… and now that I’m on the topic I might as well tell the full story! 

It was 1942, I was finishing up my bowling industry management and technology degree when my buddy Mike Mills (Byu’s most exciting defensive end!) got me on the field to work pyrotechnics for the Utah game. It was a dream come true and my first time in Ute stadium. I wore my lucky gloves and collar. Before the game started, I got to meet the rest of the crew who I’d be working with. I worked with this guy named O’brian who had lost all his teeth because of his “soda addiction” (that’s what he told me!) and another man named Donnigan Hennessy who had arrived in Utah three days before. He told me pyrotechnics was just his side job and that his real passion was in the bagpipe business. O'brien had been working with fireworks for the past twenty years. And me, well it was my first time! The process was pretty straightforward. We haul the explosives out on the field and light them. The hard part was doing it in a timely manner and not leaving any debris on the field. I was nervous, but everything was going according to plan until at the last minute O’brien snuck in his friend, Preslee… Thinking back now, I understand, it was a big game and everyone wanted to be there. But minutes before we’re supposed to run on the field? Unbelievable! And the worst part, Preslee had snuck in a 2,300 pound shell that he and O’brien were going to set off to surprise and “scare” the Utes with. Now… there's nothing I like more than making utes shake in their boots, but this was a little too far. Despite this, I still didn’t snitch because if I did we would all be kicked out for sneaking in an unauthorized pyrotechnic. All I could do was hope for the best. 

The plan was for me and Donnigan to push the initial load out (300 pounds)  and for O’brien and Preslee to take out the 2,300 pound load with the help of Preslee’s mom’s tractor that he had driven to the game himself. After going over the logistics, it was possible to pull this off, but the problem was getting the 2,300 pound load out in time because they had to share the same fuse. We commenced and the crowd went wild when they saw the tractor. It felt as if the entire world had stopped moving, I remember this one fan yelled “Tractors are Number 1 and the Strongest Agricultural Vehicle!” three times.. I was sweating like a horse! Now, at this point you’re probably thinking something horrible went wrong, like the tractor not unloading the explosives in time or Presslee’s shell being even more dangerous than we anticipated but this wasn’t the case at all. I will admit that the fireworks were so strong that the police department came because they thought it was a bomb, but no one got hurt. After the game, Floyd Millet was so impressed that he asked to have his picture taken with me, and after I introduced myself he said from now on I would be called Marty Firework! I couldn’t believe it, a nickname from Floyd himself, I was honored. I was a local celebrity for the rest of the school year, and the name stuck! I’d hear “hey! It’s marty firework!” while in class, at the bowling alley, or even at Wendy’s! It was grand. After that day, I never saw O’brien, Donnigan, or Preslee ever again. But boy… what a team! And what a nice memory.  

• Peace & love

Hang Loose

Martyinhawaii aka martyfirework (haha)