July 4th parade, fireworks canceled
Fundraising efforts amounted to ‘practically nothing’
It is now official.
What many have suspected for some time — and Digital First Media reported two weeks ago — was confirmed June 8 at a Borough Council meeting: There will be no Fourth of July fireworks, festivities or parade this year.
Marcia Levengood, cochairperson of Independence Day Ltd., made that clear in a statement at the beginning of the meeting, just before Borough Council President Dan Weand offered remarks on the matter.
“Independence Day Ltd. is committed to collaborating to provide festivities to celebrate the anniversary of Independence Day in 2017,” said Levengood, adding that 2016 July 4th hats will be available shortly and that the Fourth of July Queens contest will continue through the end of the month.
After the meeting, Levengood told The Mercury that the group’s fundraising efforts over the course of the previous year had raised “practically nothing.”
She said only four households participated in the house decorating contest held during the Christmas holidays, despite efforts to put flyers into the mailboxes of decorated homes, and that not enough people signed up for a spring golf outing to make it worth doing.
Efforts to approach businesses and other organizations had also produced no results, she said.
The total cost of the celebration is about $50,000 — $20,000 of which goes toward the fireworks show.
“Fireworks are expensive,” Levengood said. “It works out to about $1,000 a minute.”
She said when the organizers put out requests for proposals, it specified a show of 20 minutes or more from bidders.
“People have come to expect Pottstown’s fireworks to be the best and we don’t want people walking away from them disappointed,” said Levengood. “In some ways, its a shame the bar has been set so high.”
Noting he was making “the borough’s statement,” Weand said, “I want to make it abundantly clear, that although the borough supports their efforts, the Borough of Pottstown does not organize, fund or otherwise run these events.”
“Since its inception more than 30 years ago, hometown Fourth of July events have been organized and paid through the efforts of non-profit entities,” he said.
“Although we regret the fact that Independence Day Ltd. has been unable to raise the needed funds for this year’s events, we cannot and will not underwrite these or other events at the expense of our taxpayers,” said Weand.
But that is exactly what should happen, argued former borough Councilman David Miller.
“My suggestion, along with a solution, is that council adopt a resolution taking ownership of the Fourth of July parade,” said Miller.
“It seems like the Fourth of July parade is an opportunity that’s being missed,” said Miller. “Council could take ownership, council could provide some full-time staffing support, council can provide some full-time funding support with the idea that funding would be brought back by way of contributions and solicitations.”
He said businesses could sponsor the parade, and it would be a unique marketing opportunity. “It could be the Pottstown Parks and Rec Parade, the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center Parade, the Sly Fox Beer Parade,” he said.
But no council members warmed to that idea.
“You have to understand, council has a lot on its plate. We don’t only have these meetings twice a month, we have other meetings for different things within the month, and its very difficult for a lot of us to have family time, plus have the time to spend to take care of the borough,” said Councilwoman Carol Kulp.
“The Fourth of July is a wonderful thing, I was there at the very first one, and we don’t like to see what’s happening, but the borough cannot take on this responsibility with all the other responsibilities that the borough does have,” she said. “You have to realize this is an independent committee that takes care of this.”
Councilman Dennis Arms, however, had a different take on developments.
“I first want to emphasize the statement by the borough was not endorsed by me, I don’t remember ever giving my thoughts on it,” Arms said. “Instead I’m disappointed that council would not support such an event, a hometown event, but at the same time, we’ll drop $2,500 on a consultant to hire an assistant borough manager when we have an HR department that has the responsibility to recruit and hire.”
He was referring, in all likelihood, to an exclusive May 27 report in The Mercury that Borough Manager Mark Flanders has hired consultant David Woglom — who spearheaded the failed attempt to merge the fire companies and recommended Flanders for his current job — to find a replacement for Assistant Borough Manager Erica Batdorf, who is leaving to take a job as manager of West Vincent Township.
Ironically, West Vincent Township hired Woglom to find its new township manager — and he found Batdorf.
The borough and Independence Day Ltd. were at odds in recent weeks after the event organizers released a statement insinuating that the borough’s insistence on being paid the roughly $9,000 fee ahead of the parade was putting the celebration “in jeopardy.”
The borough responded with a statement of its own, noting the organizers were late in paying its 2015 fees and had been warned a year ahead of time of the change in policy.
“It is our hope that Independence Day Ltd. will use this year, 2016, to re-group and prepare for 2017. If not, I’d like to point out that any responsible, non-profit organization, with the proper backing and funding, may submit the appropriate applications and fees to obtain permits to run similar events here in the borough,” Weand said in his statement.