Wilder
The Parks and Recreation Department is sending out fundraising letters seeking smaller donations to get to $5,000, the amount needed “to come anywhere near previous shows,” Hartford Town Manager Leo Pullar told the Hartford Selectboard earlier this month.
The total cost of the traditional display in Kilowatt Park, which Pullar called the town’s largest one-day community event, was $20,000 last year; about $6,000 of that came from the town’s general fund, $2,000 from food and glow stick sales, and the rest from the Springfield Buick GMC sponsorship. Pullar said the car dealer is “unable to support the fireworks this year.” He said the town is grateful for five years of sponsorship from the car dealer, which did not respond to messages seeking comment.
With only $6,000 earmarked for the fireworks show in the municipal budget, the town plans to put on a briefer display, with the intensity being driven mainly by the success of the fundraising drive, according to Parks and Recreation Director Scott Hausler.
The Fourth of July festival, often praised by Selectboard members, has long been a showcase event for the town, and attracts people from throughout the Upper Valley. A picture of early festival-goers lounging on blankets in the grass graced the cover of the department’s 2016 annual report, and it also is featured prominently in the Parks and Recreation Department’s 2018 summer activities guide.
Last year’s event drew 4,000 attendees, with the sky show supplemented by music, games, activities and local food vendors.
This year, the town has trimmed the event’s budget by cutting out one of two light towers and using a DJ, rather than live bands, for music.
If at least $4,000 is raised through donations, Hausler said, they will spend $2,000 on the finale, about half the amount spent last year. He said the event would be smaller than past years, but still equal to others in the region. If no donations materialize, he said, “there will be some delay between shots, where in the past the skies were constantly filled.”
The fireworks are purchased from Montpelier-based Northstar Fireworks.
Hausler said the value of having the region’s longest fireworks display is a matter of personal judgment.
“No matter what the timing is, it is either too short or too long,” he said, and some people agreed that a shorter event might provide more bang for the buck.
Selectboard member Dennis Brown said during the meeting that he felt a long display isn’t necessary “to get the message across that we’re celebrating the country’s birthday,” according to CATV video of the meeting.
Brown said that when he last attended the event two years ago, he’d literally fallen asleep during the display.
“I know it’s the grandest in the area,” Brown said. “But it lasts a long time.”
Two years ago, the display lasted 28 minutes, and last year, it lasted 25 minutes, according to Hausler. He said this year, the target is between 15 and 18 minutes.
Pullar, who attended last year, agreed that the fireworks go on “forever and ever,” and said the budget reduction would result in a shorter display.
Lebanon spends $8,500 from its municipal coffers for that city’s Fourth of July celebration at Storrs Hill, including $5,000 on a fireworks display that lasts roughly 15 minutes, according to Recreation and Parks Director Paul Coats.
The city also puts on a larger fireworks show during its annual Summer Celebration festival in late August.
Coats said the city considered scuttling the July 4 celebration when a survey showed that most Lebanon residents wouldn’t mind, knowing that they could travel to Hartford or Claremont instead. But the minority that wanted to keep the patriotic display was passionate and vocal, he said, so they decided to keep it.
Quechee resident Lannie Collins, who in previous years has pointed to Hartford’s fireworks display as an example of the good work done by town staff, said on Friday that a happy medium could be reached by putting on a good show without necessarily safeguarding the event’s reputation for being the biggest in the region.
“I don’t think we have to set ourselves apart from the Upper Valley to have the best display, but it is important to show our patriotism and our support for our country and American values,” said Collins, a veteran of the Navy and National Guard.
Potential donors are encouraged to contact the Hartford Department of Parks and Recreation at 802-295-5036; the names of those who give $500 or $1,000 will be recognized in a variety of ways before and during the event.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.