FIREWORKS RETURNING?

If donations come through, fireworks on the horizon for July 4th

POTTSTOWN » Plans for this year’s GoFourth celebration on Independence Day are underway and — cross your fingers — they currently include fireworks.

And if you want fireworks in Memorial Park this year, now is the time to step up and open your wallet.

“Basically, with fireworks, every minute costs $1,000” said Amy Francis, president of the Pottstown School Board and cochairwoman of the GoFourth Board of Directors.

Some sponsors have already been obtained and others are being sought, but the first chance the public will have to participate in a fundraiser will be on Wednesday, April 4, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

That’s when the “Kick-Off Mixer” will be held in the rear of 140 College Drive, the part of the brick building in Riverfront Park operated by Montgomery County Community College.

Tickets are $10 and include food, beverages and live jazz music.

But you don’t need to go to the mixer to donate.

If you want fireworks on the Fourth of July in Pottstown, you can go to https://www.pottstowngofourth.info/ and donate online, or do it the old-fashioned way, put a check in the mail to P.O. Box 1362, Pottstown, PA 19464.

(Make the check out to TriCounty Network and write “GoFourth” in the memo line in order to make the donation tax-deductible.)

There is already a growing list of sponsors who have taken those very crucial steps of being early sponsors.

They include: J& K Foam Fabricating Inc.; Wolf Baldwin & Associates, PC; Tompkins Vist Bank; David G. Garner, Esq.; Tri-County Chiropractic; Tri County Area Federal Credit Union; Yergey.Dayl or. Al le bach. Scheffey.Picardi with more joining up each week, said Francis.

There are many sponsorship levels from the two $10,000 “fireworks sponsors” at the top, all the way down through the $100 “neighbors of the festival” sponsor level.

Last year’s event raised nearly $60,000 to pay for the entire affair and that’s about what is needed again in 2018, particularly given that the $6,000 deposit on the fireworks is due soon, said Francis.

Because July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year, the event will be kept to a single day, but never fear, many of the traditional activities have been planned.

There will of course be a parade, which is again being organized by the Pottstown Rotary Club “and we’ve been coordinating with them from the start,” said Francis.

Francis said the school district is already cooperating with a “King” and “Queen” contest and there is consideration of expanding that fund-raising contest into a “Royal Court” that would allow participation by more of the area’s schools.

“Just like last year, we’re going to have a full day of music programed by Louis Rieger from High Street

Music,” Francis said.

There will be a “Kid’s Corner” of activities and, just like last year, food trucks organized by David DiMattio and vendors galore, she said.

And again, hats and

shirts will help to raise money too.

GoFourth is also on the hunt for someone who is good at organizing volunteers once the event gets closer for all the set-up and tear-down required.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Fireworks in Pottstown’s Memorial Park are a long-cherished tradition in Pottstown, but have been too expensive in recent years given that donations to pay for them have waned.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO One way to help ensure fireworks will return to Memorial Park is to donate, or spend $10 and go to the “Kick-Off Mixer” on April 4.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Last year a new tradition sprang up in Memorial Park, called GoFourth, which included extensive music offerings, such as the Whiskeyhickon Boys.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO A “Fox and Hound” balloon race is planned for this year’s GoFourth Festivtal in Memorial Park on July 4.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Children signed up for the Rotary Club Duck Race together at one of the many vendor exhibits during the GoFourth Festival held last year at Memorial Park.