Fireworks over Rails to Trails in 2013?

Fundraising and even preliminary planning is underway to bring a public fireworks display back to Taft by next year.

If all goes well, those fireworks could light up the sky right over the downtown.

The Taft District Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau has formed a committee to bring fireworks back to Taft after a two-year absence and Executive Director Kathy Orrin updated the Taft City Council on it Tuesday night.

The committee has started fundraising already and made contact with the Kern County Fire Department about a suitable site for a fireworks show.

Orrin said the chamber would like to have a fireworks show over the Rails to Trails area and the KCFD said it could be done.

The fireworks could be a part of a larger Fourth of July event along the path.

"The preliminary word from the fire department is that its probably possible," Orrin said. "That is very good news because it brings a lot more people into town."

Taft had a fireworks show that was started in the 1980s and funded by the West Side Recreation and Park District. It was held at the Franklin Field softball complex.

But the district had to quit funding it about 10 years ago when it could no longer afford it.

Several groups have tried to keep the fireworks display going over the past decade, and, by 2010 it was nearly gone.

But a last minute donation by businessman Bob Hampton ensured the city would have a fireworks show during its centennial year. A display was held on the Taft Union High School baseball fields on San Emidio Street.

There were no legal, public aerial fireworks in 2011 or 2012.