SAINT PAUL CLUB ,SAFI, MALTA A.D. 1929This site is dedicated to those pyro. guys and girls who over the years have manufactured fireworks to celebrate the feast of St. Paul . It is maintained by Paul Schembri.Many thanks to those who supplied the photos and other relevant information.
This site is maintained by Paul Schembri of Magnus,Biedja Street,Safi , Malta.Thank you to those who has supplied the photos.
INTRODUCTION :
St. Paul's Fireworks Factory is a branch of St. Paul Club Safi , Malta. This club was founded in 1929 with it'smain aims being ( 1 ) to help organize the village feast of St.Paul, which during that time was celebrated on the 25 January and ( 2 ) to provide its members with premises where they could meet socially and where a bar wasto serve them at reasonable prices.The club always worked hand in hand with the parish clergy and several times donated money to part- financeworks of art within Safi Parish Church.The only time that St.Paul Club stopped functioning was during Second World War when the premises were requisitioned in order to house homeless refugees who came from heavily bombed areas in the Grand Harbourregion.FIREWORKS :
A photo taken ca 1930 shows that in those days Safi had a team of fireworks enthusiasts who manufacturedboth aerial and ground fireworks.But there also exists documentation which goes to prove that firework manufacturingin Safi was practiced much earlier than that.When the first village feast procession was held in 1732 ( ref. " Hal - Safi " by Paul Callus ) 3 rockets and 12 aerialshells were fired.Beside these ,they had 5 Catherine wheels and several maskli. The latter can,to a certain extent ,becompared to exploding mines. These explosive devices consisted of heavy ,thick-walled guns made of iron or bronze,about 8" high with a diameter of 1" to 1 1/2" and had a 1/4" hole near the base.Rough powder was poured inside themand a layer of clay or xhax ( fragments of globigerina limestone ) was pressed over it. They were lined next to each other and linked by a trail of gunpowder.Up to the early 1950s they were still quite popular.As time went by, the amounts of fireworks manufactured kept on increasing ,especially after St.Paul Club was foundedin 1929.The real turning point occurred in 1960 when Safi, together with the rest of Malta, celebrated the Centenary Feast of St.Paul.A high level of firework manufacture was reached,since then the impetus never faltered.Some fireworks enthusiasts for the period 1929- 1960 were : Guzeppi Mifsud,Anglu Dalli,Pawlu Busuttil,George CachiaMikiel Zammit, Pawlu Zammit, Nardu Falzon, Filomeno Cachia,Gaetano Dalli.AERIAL FIREWORKS :
In the late sixties,the first "A " licensed manufacture in Safi was Emmanuel Camilleri.There were some "B" licensed helpers, among them Paul Dalli, Louis Zammit, Joe Monreal,John Busuttil, Carmel Busuttil,Joseph Callus,Mario MagriAnd Paul Schembri.After the premises of St.Paul Club were demolished and built anew to modern standards in 1987,St.Paul Band came into being. Also, land was donated by Honorary Member Paul Busuttil so that St.Paul Firework factory be built on it,on condition that the land would revert to its original owner if in the future building permits were to be issued for the area.Work on the firework factory progressed rapidly and it was officially inaugurated on 22 September 1997.Initiallyit was run by Emmanuel Camilleri.When ,5 years later he retired,this responsibility was passed on to Paul Schembriwho still holds this position.It is important that a firework factory relies on the experience of people who have a background in science, especially in Chemistry. Safi could boast of one such person, the late Joe Callus, who dedicated a lifetime to the art of firework manufacture.His knowledge was abundant, and he came up with new safe formulae and stressed on the chemicals awareness.Paul Schembri mentions Joe as being his mentor and someone to look up to.It was at the turn of the century that the first female firework enthusiast , Pasqalia Schembri was licensed to help in the manufacture of fireworks ,following her father footsteps, Paul Schembri.GROUND FIREWORKS :
In Malta, in the late 1970s, traditional Catherine wheels gave way to mechanized and elaborate ground fireworks.Safi did not lag behind,and Paul Schembri started specializing in mechanized ground fireworks.Now, after 30 years,hehas passed on his knowledge to his nephew Charlon Psaila. Despite this, he still offers advice and teaches the ' trade 'to youths who are taking up the manufacture of ground fireworks.FIREWORKS ALLIANCE :
At the time when Lee and Fred Partin were Presidents of the Florida Pyrotechnic Arts Guild, they began inviting special guests to lecture and teach the guild members at Fall Fest. In the year 2001, Lee and Fred were lookingat some pictures of Maltese Wheels - taken on a recent visit to Malta by Bill Kimbrough of Texas - and Lee Partin, as President of the Guild, came up with the idea of inviting over a special guest from Malta. The Guild agreed to the proposal and Bill supplied the address and phone number of Benny Farrugia. Fred Partin contacted Benny. The latter accepted the invitation and asked if it were possible that he bring over with him Paul Schembri. ( His BodyGuard ).The expenses for the trip were covered by FPAG which paid $ 3600 and the Texas Guild ( Carl Tauch )which paid $ 1500. That is why Benny and Paul also travelled to Texas for two weeks during their stay in the USA.It is worth mentioning that Fred Partin put in just over 2400 miles on his van while taking Benny and Paul to variousdestinations, either pyro-related or for entertainment. When Benny and Paul used to ask Fred how far they were going to travel, he would say: ' just round the corner' ... which came to about 60 miles !The visit, in October came at a very difficult time. America was mourning the thousands of people killed in September11th terrorist attack, and many people were then wary of traveling by air. Because of this, the families of Benny andPaul were somewhat concerned. But Benny and Paul were not deterred - their love for pyrotechnics overcame everything and they continued with their visit as planned. Once the visit came to an end, Paul stayed in contact withemails and phone calls with Fred and Lee Partin, Mitch Piatt and Greg Dixon. They shared information and strengthened their friendship even more.The following year, 2002, Safi welcomed two visitors from FPAG for the Feast of Saint Paul;these were Mitch Piatt and Greg Dixon. While visiting the Safi Fireworks Factory, Mitch and Paul came up with the idea of forming a " FireworksAlliance" between the two Clubs with the purpose of sharing information about fireworks, especially were safety precautions in handling and mixing of chemicals concerned.Paul Schembri proposed this " Alliance " to the next General Meeting of the Safi Club. He also proposed that MitchPiatt, Fred Partin, Lee Partin, Benny Farrugia become Honorary Life Members and the President in office of FPAG will be Honorary President during his term in the Safi Club. Both motions were agreed to. Meanwhile Mitch and other members of FPAG were preparing the logo of the said Alliance.In November 2004 Paul visited Florida again together with his wife Lucy. While attending 4F at Monticello, Paul wasgiving a surprise during the Guild's General Meeting. He was presented with a plaque to commemorate and honorhim on being the first Honorary President of Florida Pyrotechnic Art Guild. Paul will always cherish this honor and thefriendship that comes with it. Thank you FPAG. November 2009 was the 3rd. time Paul visited Florida. He attended 4F at Monticello especially to watch the Maltesestyle shells , which some members of the Guild had been working on the last 2 years. Friday was competition night,which is a competition for novice and well established pyro guys and girls. There are many categories like ball shells,set pieces, rockets , canister shells etc. The overall performance of the competitors was very good, but there were ball shells, canister shells and set pieces which were nearly perfect. Saturday was the big day , the members has been waiting for . The Maltese Segment ,which consist of Maltese colored shells, beraq shells, snail ( spiral ) shells and insert shells. The show was all shot electrically. The majority of shells were very nice with a big round burst of stars of different colors. Paul praised the guys who manufactured the Maltese style shells and is very proud that in a few years time, these guys has mastered the technic of Maltese style shells.Note: Click Pics.to enlarge
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