It Takes a Village to Host a Tourist

6:10 p.m.

Hawaii Explosives & Pyrotechnics Inc., a company based in Mountain View on Hawaii Island, sets up its equipment on the beach next to the lagoon for tonight’s fireworks show, as it does every Friday night.

Stephanie Pascual (in black T-shirt), the company’s VP, says tonight’s setup was more challenging than usual. The company’s truck broke down, so she had to rent a replacement, but the crew got everything ready in time.

She says she and her team use up to 1,000 shells for the four- or five-minute show, staged with wind speed and direction in mind. “We have south winds,” she says. “They might break a little closer to the pier tonight.”

Her family’s company has been lighting the night sky each week at the Hilton since 1988. That was the year Conrad Hilton suggested fireworks as part of a $100-million master plan that revamped the hotel under the slogan “The Return to Paradise.”