Serving Whitman County since 1877
If you wanted to find the busiest person in Whitman County on the 4th of July, Tony Anderson would be a great candidate, followed by his crew and family. Tony is an electrician and pyrotechnician who enjoys both jobs very much. The Endicott fireworks production is Tony’s show and people gather on the Endicott school grounds to enjoy it along with live music and the ice cream sundaes.
Tony began planning last Friday’s show months ago. He purchases supplies in April and receives better prices by helping with the Entertainment Fireworks’ customer appreciation event. Dave Wingo, who produces Pullman’s fireworks show, is a friend who also lives in Endicott. Tony’s crew helps set up both shows.
Tony's trusted crew helps assemble the fireworks with a mind for sequence with a mix of low and high in the sky displays.
Assembly takes two or three people eight to 10 hours. Tony talks of cakes, which are fireworks with multiple effects in one unit, and tubes, which look like cardboard rolls.
The fireworks are electrically fired by remote control. He noted a San Diego show several years ago blew up 30 minutes of fireworks in about 25 seconds. It was computer-fired, and there was a computer malfunction.
The fireworks show started years ago with the Endicott Fire Department putting on fireworks for the community. When Tony became involved, he and Gary Luft manually fired all of the displays. Dave Wingo came to town, and he and others helped Tony learn to build larger fireworks. Tony’s brother-in-law, Jon Langston, is on the crew. They use only consumer (Class B) fireworks.
Amazingly, the whole Endicott show is paid for by donations. Donation jars are in the grocery store and other spots in Endicott, and people send donations to Endicott to help out. Tony’s bargain hunting stretches the donation dollars.
In addition to the crew that builds and fires the fireworks, there are safety people on the grounds with fire extinguishers.
The fireworks are set off on a strip of land between the railroad and the county road on the west side of Endicott's big school lawn.
Tony began training as an electrician as an apprentice with Harrison Electric. He took classes on alternate Saturdays at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, and apprentice classes at Spokane Community College.
An apprentice electrician works with a journeyman for 8,000 hours, 2,000 of which must be in commercial projects, documented to the state, to be eligible for the journeyman test. The test requires several hours and is considered “thorough.”
To start his own company, Tony had to be either a master electrician or an administrator. This required many more hours and another big test. After receiving his administrator’s license in February of 2013, he and Nancy started TNA Electric and Controls.
TNA does a lot of work for Johnson Controls and Siemens Controls, as well as residential and commercial electrical work. Jobs this summer are in Spokane, Walla Walla, Liberty Lake and at Washington State University on Chief Joseph apartments and Northside Residence Hall. They were just awarded a job at Northtown Mall in Spokane.
Nancy Anderson was growing up in Spokane playing soccer while Tony was attending St. John-Endicott High School where he participated in football, basketball and FFA. A Ferris High School graduate, she attended Spokane Falls Community College and transferred to WSU where she earned a degree in pre-pharmacy. Although she keeps up her licensing, Nancy has been a stay-at-home mom for several years. Her new job is keeping books for TNA, plus helping Tony's mother operate Endicott Food Center,
Nancy is in her third year of serving on the Endicott School Board. She noted learning educators' language has been a challenge. Taking Washington State School Directors Association classes has helped get her up to speed.
How does a pharmacy technician transition to being a bookkeeper? Buy Quickbooks and make friends with the accountant who can answer your questions, Nancy found. The Johnson Controls bookkeeper has been her mentor and helped her frequently. For large jobs, they found that sub-contractors normally bill a percentage of the job each month. Residential customers are so much faster paying, so Tony and Nancy really appreciate them.
Tony and Nancy have three children, Ryan, Avery and Sophia. Ryan is 10 and will be a fifth grader. He participates in wrestling and swim team and loves math and science. Avery is seven and entering second grade. He also does wrestling and swim team and loves all sports. The collection of balls confiscated from Avery after he threw them inside the house accessorizes the tops of the kitchen cabinets. Sophia, six, will enter first grade. She loves to sing and dance and take care of her baby dolls.
After a summer science project at the library, the children had to get Mentos and soda bottles and repeat the experiment. Ryan is busy on the computer looking up other experiments some of which have to be ruled out because of cost of equipment or supplies.
The Andersons love to swim at the pool, go to movies or have movie night at home. They enjoy outdoor movie nights in Endicott in the summer. They plan to go to Montana this summer for a family reunion.
Recipes:
Ham Balls
1/2 pound hamburger
2 pounds ground ham
1 pound ground sausage
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
Mix all ingredients together. Shape into balls and place in a 9x13-inch pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
Mix together and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
Pour sauce over ham balls and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Cranberry
Salsa Dip with Cream Cheese
1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries, rinsed, drained
2 small jalapeno peppers, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup minced green onion
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons finely grated ginger
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
Rinse, drain and pick over cranberries. Place them in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped but not mushy. Place crushed cranberries in a bowl; mix together with onion, jalapeno peppers, sugar, cilantro leaves, ginger and lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours so flavors develop.
On a serving plate, place cream cheese; cover with dip. Serve with crackers.
Caramel Pecan Brownies
4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 package (14 ounces) caramels, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups pecan halves, divided
1 package chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup flour
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, extending over edges to form handles. Generously grease foil.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for two minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir sugar into chocolate until well blended. Mix in eggs. Stir in flour until well blended. Spread 1/2 of the brownie batter in prepared pan.
Bake 25 minutes or until batter is firm to the touch.
Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in bowl on high two minutes or until caramels begin to melt. Stir until smooth. Stir in one cup of the pecan halves. Gently spread caramel mix over baked brownie batter in pan. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips if desired. Pour remaining unbaked brownie batter evenly over caramel mixture; sprinkle with remaining one cup pecan halves.
Bake an additional 30 minutes, or until brownies feel firm to the touch. Cool in pan. Run knife around edges of pan to loosen brownies from sides. Lift from pan, using foil as handles. Cut into squares.
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