Belletetes Inc

and Telstar Display Fireworks was purchased by Pyrotecnico Fireworks, from New Castle, Pennsylvania. Lionel and Sheila Bergeron’s son, Christopher Bergeron, continued his pyrotechnic career as the Director of Safety and Training at Atlas PyroVision. Today, Chris continues working in the industry with Pyrotecnico Fireworks, along with his uncle, Tom Speeney, son of D. C. Speeney Manufacturing founder, Dominic Speeney.

Pyrotechnic success continued for Atlas PyroVision Entertainment (renamed in 2015 through several acquisitions), winning numerous awards while competing in national and international competitions in Virginia Beach, Canada, France, Philippines, Shanghai, Spain, and Vietnam. Even through the Covid pandemic (2020-2021), Atlas managed to retain all its 26 full-time employees, operating its professional firework display division and four retail fireworks stores. As the pandemic eased, Atlas PyroVision Entertainment became even stronger as fewer companies remained and the demand for its services grew. Atlas continued its success throughout 2022, performing over 800 displays throughout New England, including most New England capital cities, Boston Pops 4th of July, and numerous collegiate and professional sports teams—Boston College, University of Connecticut, Fenway Park, TD Garden and Gillette Stadium.

In October 2022, Pelkey surprisingly announced that the Atlas PyroVision professional display division, was acquired by Pyrotecnico Fireworks from New Castle, Pennsylvania. Although Atlas PyroVision is no longer engaged in providing firework displays for cities and towns, the Pelkey family continues today with Atlas Fireworks, providing consumer retail fireworks at their four New Hampshire store locations in Amherst, Belmont, Newport and Rindge. Today, Atlas Fireworks shares the Old Sharon Road property with Pyrotecnico Fireworks as their headquarters and distribution facility. In 2024, Atlas Fireworks will celebrate 75 years as a Jaffrey business.

Stephen’s oldest daughter, Sarah (Pelkey) Bergeron, currently serves as Production Lead with Pyrotecnico, and was also President of Atlas PyroVision Entertainment from 2012 to 2022. Sarah Bergeron, along with longtime family friend and Vice President of Sales, Matthew J. Shea, were instrumental in growing the Atlas brand in pyrotechnic entertainment. Stephen’s remaining daughter Emily (Pelkey) Curtis joined Atlas in 2012 and is the General Manager of the retail fireworks division of Atlas Fireworks where she remains today, as well as Hannah (Pelkey) Gaspar who began in 2014 at Atlas PyroVision and today is working as a Production Coordinator with Pyrotecnico. Barbara’s youngest of three daughters, Katherine Potts, in 2016 joined in the family business working in the display division as a licensed technician and is also actively involved in developing training platforms for Atlas Fireworks. Barbara’s remaining two daughters: Caroline (Potts) O’Donnell, is a registered nurse and is married to Dr. Thomas O’Donnell. They are raising their two children and currently living in northern New Jersey. And Barbara’s oldest daughter, Sarah (Potts) Caruthers, for a short time worked for Atlas and was also licensed to shoot display fireworks and special effects, is now residing in Jaffrey Center along with her husband, Alex Caruthers, who is also a licensed pyrotechnician, and they have three children.

For nearly 73 years, the Atlas name has been synonymous with firework celebrations throughout New England and beyond. The town of Jaffrey has been home to many stars that shine bright above Mount Monadnock. Happy 250th Jubilee Celebration to the town of Jaffrey! ❦

BelleteteS inc. has been making history in Jaffrey for the last 125 years and is looking forward to the future. Founder Elie Belletete (1870–1954) and his wife, Alexina (1879–1962) were married in 1898. Later that same year, Elie started his hardware business, which has now become Belletetes Inc.

At the age of 14, Elie emigrated from St. Zephain, Canada (35 miles east of Montreal) in 1884 to find work in the White Brothers textile mill on the Contoocock River in Jaffrey. He worked 5½ days a week for $4.00 of pay. In his spare time, Elie was a barber; he charged 15 cents for a haircut and 10 cents for a shave. By 1898, he had managed to save $500 and

buy a store on North Street, initially selling groceries and hardware products.

Through difficult times, Elie and Alexina managed to slowly grow the business and raise a family of ten children. Two sons would later enter the business; after the Great Depression, Homer came on board, followed by Reynold at the end of World War II. At that time, they expanded the company to include building materials, often working long hours to deliver materials before and after store hours.

As time and opportunity allowed, future generations have joined the business, and now Belletetes Inc. is in its 5th generation of service. Third-generation members are Homer’s sonin-law Ted Shea (1964), Reynold’s sons Jack (1973) and David (1980). Ted and Jack served in succession as President and CEO until their respective retirements. David continues to serve as a Vice President. Fourth-generation members are Ted’s sons Mike (1983) and Matt (1996) along with Jack’s daughter Sara (2004) and David’s daughter Celia (2021). Mike presently serves as President and CEO, Matt as Vice President, Sara as Treasurer and Director of Purchasing and Celia in a management training role. Fifthgeneration members are Mike’s son Derek (2014) who is the Millwork Manager and Mike’s nephew Chris LeBlanc (2017) millwork purchasing and inventory specialist.

From Elie’s humble beginnings, Belletetes has grown into one of the largest lumber and building material retailers in the northeast, servicing New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and southern Maine. Today, Belletetes operates nine locations, with 320 employees and more than 70 delivery vehicles. “The foundations of our success can be summed up in a few catchphrases: being part of the community, forming meaningful relationships, and having caring, dedicated employees,” says President Mike Shea.

As a local business, we are grateful for the support and loyal patronage that we receive from the communities we serve. Belletetes leadership believes in the importance of being part of the community and has a long history of giving back through sponsoring local events, supporting employees that participate on local boards, service organizations, and other community programs. The yearly “We Build It Forward Outreach Program” has been able to help elderly, disabled, or other residents in financial distress complete various household improvements. The program relies on the help of community volunteers who provide skilled labor and helping hands.

We continuously strive to develop strong, dependable relationships with our customers and vendors. Those relationships give us the opportunity to become partners in our mutual successes. We believe in providing excellent customer service, and we appreciate the opportunity to earn our customers’ business every day, year after year. Belletetes believes in aligning itself with the industry’s best brands, high quality products which our customers can depend on to perform. Forming strong partnerships with our vendors has allowed us, with some exceptions, to have stable inventory, despite the supply chain challenges over the last several years.

We are blessed to have so many caring and dedicated employees who show up everyday to make a difference. The dedication and hard work