Chesterfield Twp neighbors throw block party after fireworks threat

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) - A Chesterfield Township neighbor's anonymous, threatening letter about 4th of July fireworks backfired. Pretty literally. 

It actually brought the neighborhood closer in a weird way. They responded by organizing a block party -- with lots of fireworks. 

Neighbor Tony Ivanaj showed us his reply to a threatening letter his family got -- a huge supply of fireworks, all ready to go. He got the letter from a neighbor mad over his firework display last year, because the person says they didn't get enough sleep for an early morning work shift. 

"We did everything according to the law. We stopped at like 11:30 and 12 a.m. is the cut off time," Ivanaj says.

Four families on Dove Lane in Chesterfield Township got the letter, which said, "If I hear one explosion after 9 p.m. any days this week I will make your lives on Dove Lane insanely miserable."

"This plan definitely backfired," Ivanaj laughs. 

Once the letter hit social media, the plan to have a mega firework show and block party was hatched. Thousands of people from all over Metro Detroit said they were interested in the Facebook event. 

"They're kind of actually bringing our community closer together," says neighbor Jeff Ricci of the letter writer. 

He his family organized a cornhole tournament. He said this night gave him a chance to meet neighbors he doesn't know. 

"We see each other when we mow the lawn but no one really gets together," he says. 

He actually works the same shift as the person who penned that letter, but he's still all about the fireworks. 

"If three nights out of the year you hear some loud booms and can't go to sleep? Deal with it," he says. 

Ivanaj says they've been legally lighting fireworks for years - and don't plan on stopping now.

"I really appreciate everything that you did because you brought people together in a way that I'm sure anyone involved had no idea could've happened," Ivanaj says. 

The author of that letter is still a mystery. Chesterfield Police are still working to find out who wrote it.