Signal discusses bringing back Hodgepodge event
The town of Signal Mountain is considering bringing back Hodgepodge, an event featuring artisan and craft vendors that was held in the community for many years.
The town council discussed the idea at its Oct. 24 work session at the request of Mayor Chris Howley.
“I think that event was special for the community outside of just being a fundraiser. I had received disappointment that it had gone away,” Howley said in a follow-up interview.
It wouldn’t be the first time the town has taken ownership of the event. In 2013, after a string of changes in the event’s management that threatened to end the decades-old tradition, the town decided to pick it
up. Mountain Arts Community Center Executive Director Barb Storm took the lead and hired a parttime, seasonal employee to help with the logistics.
Drawing dozens of independent artisans, it took a lot of work to pull it off, Town Manager Boyd Veal said in a separate interview.
Town Financial Director and Recorder Carol Thompson-White wonders if it was worth it. That year, Hodgepodge made a profit of $2,700, she told councilors at the work session, and that did not include ancillary costs.
The event assistance provided by the police department was factored into the town’s expenditures for the event, she said, but the time spent on the event by other town staff members — from the community center and from the parks, water and fire departments — was not.
“In my point of view, if we included all of those costs and the lost productivity from their involvement, we would not have been in a profit situation at all,” said Thompson-White. “I, from a financial standpoint, had some real strong concerns about accountability of funds.”
Things that caused her concern included ticket purchases not being properly accounted for, and the fees charged by an outside party that handled online payments being far higher than what organizers had expected, she told councilors.
“… It was something that didn’t really make any money but it covered costs,” Veal said after the meeting. “Is that what we’re looking for — a community event that at least paid for itself? Maybe it makes sense then.”
Any profits have historically gone to help support the MACC, a town-run arts and community center. The 92-year-old building suffers from ongoing maintenance issues that have threatened to close the center — leading to a $500,000 line item for repairs in the town’s FY2019 budget.
Still, Veal said, “I don’t think it’s about an event raising a bunch of money.”
While he said he wasn’t aware of a concerted citizen-led effort to revive Hodgepodge, there does seem to be an appetite in the town. Storm told councilors she would discuss the idea with the members of the MACC board at their next meeting, as they would most likely be the ones to take it on.
“If they have the ability and can muster the volunteers and everything, maybe it’s something we look at,” Veal said, adding, “From what I understand, if everything falls into place and the decision is made to do it, it would be next fall.”