Fireworks displays have been illuminating America's birthday parties since 1776.

This year is no exception. Tomorrow, Caste Village Shopping Center kicks off regional Independence Day holiday fireworks' extravaganzas with its annual production.

Traditionally, this display is held the Friday before the Fourth of July. Its producer for the last dozen or so years is Ralph Piacquadio, 52, of Cecil, a co-owner of three Armstrong's restaurants, including one in Caste Village, Whitehall.

Since the early 1990s, he has been leaving the heat of the kitchen to demonstrate his creative and artistic talents as a show producer with Pyrotecnico, a fireworks company located in New Castle.

Pyrotecnico owner is Stephen, J. Vitale, a fourth generation member of the family that started Vitale Fireworks in 1922. The firm produces about 1,500 fireworks exhibits each year for clients ranging from Kennywood to Colonial Williamsburg.

"It's done out of pride for our community and as a special event that brings the community together," Mr. Piacquadio said of the Caste show.

He promised that tomorrow's show, starting about 9:30 p.m., will provide "more bang for the buck" with its type and number of fireworks.

As a boy, his father's dry cleaning business on Mount Washington provided him with a choice seat to watch the annual fireworks at the Point.

"I thought I'd love to do this," Mr. Piacquadio said.

He said he honed his skills at family picnics: "I was always setting off displays and trying to do something different,'' he said.

His work soon led to his part-time employment with the New Castle company.

As one of a handful of certified show producers, Mr. Piacquadio puts on 30 to 40 shows a year, with half of those occurring during the coming holiday week.

In addition to arranging many shows in Pittsburgh for sporting and other events, he has traveled all across the nation and to China and Spain to put on the displays known as Pyro-musicals, synchronized display sets and choreographed music which is controlled by computers.

He loves the control and precision of the activity, much of which can be done on his laptop.

"It sure beats watching TV," he said.

Perhaps the more difficult and tedious aspect of this job is the fieldwork in setting up the shows.

"Sometimes this takes several days, depending on the size of the event, and it can be hard work," he said.

"Fireworks has always been a unique type of entertainment that still maintains a certain mystique," Mr. Piacquadio said.

"People like the spectacular colors, the reverberating noises and the fact that viewing is free," he said.

Although he calls fireworks his "magnificent obsession" for which he was recently featured on a Dish Network special, he still loves the restaurant business that he has been involved in since 1984.

"My enthusiasm hasn't diminished," he said emphasizing that his work as a fireworks show producer is " a hobby and a great distraction for me."

He said that the common thread running through both of his jobs is the fact that "both bring pleasure and enjoyment to people."