There were no plans for fireworks at this year's Georgia State Fair until after Chris Troup picked up the phone and called the fair's director.

"I've been really upset that when people talk about the fair, they've been talking about the one down I-75 south. The fair, as far as I'm concerned, is the Georgia State Fair. That's the one I grew up on," the Macon pediatric neurosurgeon said in his office, which includes a Paddington bear dressed like a surgeon and a tie-dyed lab coat he says makes his patients laugh.

Troup, 40, will direct this year's fireworks with a crew of friends from his hometown of Wrightsville and fellow doctors. They plan to make this year's fair something special, he said.

"Part of it is nostalgia, part of it is trying to do something to improve the local fair," he said.

The time and expertise they're donating will help put on the first fireworks display at the fair in at least 10 years. Troup said it will be a near-constant display that will envelope most of the sky above the fairgrounds.

"If there is any black space it will be for time and transition, not to make the show last longer," he said. The fair's display will appear lower in the sky than the Cherry Blossom Festival's display, he said, and won't be as visible from around the city.

"This is going to be just for the people at the fair, and will be overwhelming for the people on the midway," he said.

It wasn't a fascination with fireworks that led to his crew's interest, he said, it was a desire to help their community.

"All of us grew up enjoying blowing up firecrackers and stuff around July Fourth." But, he said, they didn't consider doing large displays until the fireworks at the Wrightsville Fourth of July celebration were in danger of discontinuation due to cost.

He thought that perhaps the city was being overcharged, and after some research, three years ago he and his friends from Wrightsville traveled to Missouri to become certified pyrotechnicians, he said. Eventually, they found a company called Falcon Fireworks, with a license issued by the ATF, that let them work at different events in exchange for fireworks in Wrightsville, and now Macon.

Now it's become more than a service, it's become a hobby and an outlet, Troup said.

"I think there's a lot more to it than just seeing how much you can throw in the air. I think there's a lot to be said for the choreography of it - the dance of the fireworks, the changes in mood, the changes in theme.

But he said the main satisfaction is in the reactions his crew gets for its work.

"After working so hard all day setting fireworks, when everything goes off like you wanted it to, and you hear the response from the crowd, it's so fulfilling to know that you created what was in the air," he said.

"It gives an extra sense of pride that you put in that much work and you created that but you weren't just doing it for the bucks."

The fair's executive director, Harold Carlisle, said the fair just didn't have the budget for fireworks. He said professional companies have always bid more than $10,000, but the crew Troup is leading will charge about $4,500, which includes overhead, insurance and payment to the Falcon Fireworks' owner.

When Troup called Carlisle out of the blue and offered his crew's services, Carlisle said he was "pleasantly surprised - almost shocked that he would do that."

"It's just another part of the package that's making the Georgia State Fair bigger and better," Carlisle said.

Shawn Wombles, 33, a member of the fireworks crew, said the group, which has four doctors, three trained firefighters and two trained EMTs, has a lot of fun setting up. Today it will take them 12 to 14 hours to set up and break down their shoot.

"A lot of people say that's a lot of work for 15 to 20 minutes," Wombles said. "It is a lot of work but is a lot of fun as well.

"At the end of the night when everything goes well, it's like being on a football team when everyone pats each other on the back after a win."