Low Turnout for Main Beach Fireworks

The fire department's annual on Saturday night were a half-hour show that many said was the best one they'd seen all summer.

However, there weren't as many people there as expected to watch the $30,000 show, thanks to donations from 2010.

"There was definitely a low turnout this year," Chief Ray Harden said, though he wouldn't venture a guess on how many. 

A ballpark guess from those who attended was about 1,200.

"Why? We're not sure if it the hurricane kept people away or it was the fact that we didn't tell people we were definitely doing them until Wednesday because we weren't really sure what was going on with the hurricane."

was initially forecasted to hit East Hampton as a category 3 storm. Before it hit Long Island, it weakened and when it arrived on the South Fork on Sunday morning, it was a tropical storm instead.

Still, it brought down trees and wires, . Village officials were especially concerned with how the beaches were impacted; The ocean beach .

At , where the fireworks were scheduled for six days later, the water went under the pavilion, breaking lattice work on the back. The village had to be sure there was no structural damage before re-opening the beach.

At nearby , about 10 feet of the when the beach eroded in the storm.

"We wanted to be sure before putting it out to the public," Harden said of the announcement. "Maybe many people didn't know we were still having it," he said of the fireworks.

Every year the fireworks show is put on with money raised from the previous year's fireworks. Fire department officials stand at the entrance of Main Beach with large garbage pails, hoping to fill it with cash as spectators walk onto the beach.

Donations have decreased over the years -- the show is down from $55,000 the last year the show was held on the Fourth of July. It was permanently moved to Labor Day weekend due to Piping Plover's nesting pattern.

Harden said he didn't know how much had been raised yet this year yet, though he expects that given the amount of people that came out, the donations will be down. He said the department will have a final tally on Monday.

Donations can still be made to the fire department (Harden said to be sure to include it is for the fireworks in the memo line).