For most of the year, Shane Montgomery is known as Coach Montgomery for his role coaching at North Pontotoc High School.

But come the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, he transforms into the fireworks man, the operator of 10 stands in Nettleton, West Point, Houston, Ecru, Pontotoc, Aberdeen, Plantersville, Baldwyn, Satillo and Sherman.

The girls softball and basketball coach got involved with the fireworks business seven years ago to generate extra income.

“It’s something different,” said Montgomery, who also works security at Ole Miss sporting events. “Fireworks don’t argue with you.”

Montgomery is just one example of the many seasonal workers who are going to be busy this weekend at fireworks stands, as people across the country stock up on noisemakers and sparkling explosives to celebrate the Fourth of July.

And like Montgomery, the other workers say it’s all about the extra money.

Ashley Marquez of Verona talked about her spending plans as she checked her stock at the tent on Mississippi Highway 6 by Sanctuary Hospice House.

“Usually what I make out of this all goes to the kids,” she said. “My 4-year-old, he’s already putting in for a new bike.”

The last time she sold fireworks, she said, the money went toward Christmas presents.

The income varies according to the stand, but employees are paid by the hour or by the season. The take-home pay typically is a few hundred dollars.

Jacob Hollings, a senior at Pontotoc City High School, said he plans to spend his $450 paycheck on “school clothes and other junk.”

Hollings, who plays the trumpet in the school band, was stationed Thursday at the tent on Highway 6 near the Pontotoc Country Club. He’s has been selling fireworks for five or six years and said the twice-a-year job provides a quick way to make money.

But, he said, his friends don’t understand that a lot of work is involved.

“They think when you work at a fireworks stand, you get to shoot off all the fireworks that you want, but that’s not the case,” he said. “I guess that’s why they think it’s cool.”

He said he spends the days leading up to the holiday preparing for the rush. Then, as July 3 and 4 roll around, he spends the days on his feet.

“You don’t really celebrate during the day because you are selling,” he said. “We wait until 2 or 3 in the morning and then shoot some fireworks.”

Workers say the money is worth the long hours and the heat or the cold, depending on the holiday.

Some employees, like Marquez, typically work a 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. shift every day for a week.

Others, like Dennis Gable of Endville, stay at the tent 24 hours a day. Gable makes it work by parking his motorhome – or “mobile mansion” as he calls it – next to the tent.

When Gable isn’t working at the fireworks stand, he works at Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co. in Verona.

He got involved with fireworks when his daughter, one of Montgomery’s athletes, couldn’t work at the stand one day and asked her dad to fill in.

The word-of-mouth job recruiting seems to be the way to get into the fireworks business. The employees all have a story of how they knew someone who could get them a job.

Montgomery said he’s not likely to post a “now hiring” sign on the tent. The word-of-mouth recruiting words best for him, he said, because he’s only going to hire people he knows and he trusts.

“A lot of my kids help me,” he said. “I start with my girls, son, son’s friends and adults I know. ... Normally the ones that are doing it keep doing it.”

He said the hiring is done now and the focus for the next three days will be intense selling.

“All they’re looking for is customers,” Montgomery said. “The more we sell, the less we have to box up.”

Contact Carlie Kollath at (662) 678-1598 or carlie.kollath@djournal.com.