In St. Joseph, there will be one less reason to look to the sky this Fourth of July.
The Lake Contrary Development Association has announced that its annual Fourth at the Lake event at Lake Contrary will be canceled this year, due to insufficient funds. While the lake will be open to the public on Saturday, July 4, from 7 a.m. to dusk, there will be no fireworks display.
Unlike in the past seven years, where Buchanan County allotted the event $5,000, this year's Fourth at the Lake only received $1,500. That's because, according to Ron Hook, Western District country commissioner, the county's discretionary funds were slashed from $90,000 to $40,000 for the year. That money is divided among the Fourth at the Lake, Trails West!, the Southside Fall Festival, May Fest and other smaller events.
"With the economy the way it is and the cuts we had to make in the budget, we had to trim everybody," Mr. Hook said.
But Mr. Hook didn't know just how much the previous higher amounts aided the annual event. "I was not aware that the $5,000 donation in the past supplied 100 percent of the fireworks," he said.
Actually, it provided more than that. Joan Bennett, president of the Lake Contrary Development Association, said the $5,000 paid for the fireworks display and insurance, along with security and portable toilets for the event. The association itself raises money to pay for all the games, booths and children's activities.
Ms. Bennett said when she was told just before Memorial Day of the amount they would be receiving, she knew that it wouldn't be enough to pay Jeremy Kovac, the owner of Aerial FX in St. Joseph, to put on his usual fireworks spectacle. The Lake Contrary Development Association board of directors voted to cancel the event.
"There's no sense going on with the rest of it because (the fireworks are) the main attraction," Ms. Bennett said.
She claims that while the association had been inquiring about how much it would receive starting in January, the county didn't get back to them until May with the news of the decreased amount. She also claims that if they had known about the amount sooner, they would have made attempts to raise the funds to keep the event going. However, Mr. Hook claims that the lake association knew about the amount back in March or April.
Regardless, there will be one less big bang in St. Joseph. According to Fourth at the Lake co-founder Mark Sheehan, that's not good for anyone's Independence Day.
"It's really too bad for the kids," Mr. Sheehan said. "For a lot of kids, this is their Fourth of July."
Fireworks displays and Fourth of July events at Terrible's St. Jo Frontier Casino and at Phil Welch Stadium will go on as scheduled.
Blake Hannon can be reached
at blakehannon@npgco.com.
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heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
there is a positive side to this. a single venue for fireworks at heritage park could be a way to unite the community in one of the most traditional and primitive ways. think of it...... patriotic music played by the stjo symphony (so excited to hear they will be performing) , everyone ooooh-ing and aaaah-ing at the beautiful fireworks, all the neighborhoods together under that brilliant and exclusively american display.
this is an opportunity for the entire city to COME TOGETHER. run the busses, have a night of free transportation, open the nature center for free, at least to minors, and one accompanying parent. put luminaries out all along the riverwalk so people can stroll.
have the lake contrary money rolled into the budget. use it to give free hot dogs and lemonade to everyone. have a can drive for second harvest.
Joetowners, that night we can all be United, proud 238ers, northenders, midtowners, NE soccer moms, poor, well to do, natives, carpetbaggers..... all proud americans.
June 25, 2009 at 8:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BCotter says...
"hat money is divided among the Fourth at the Lake, Trails West!, the Southside Fall Festival, May Fest and other smaller events."
Doesn't Trails West! charge admission now? Why should they get any public money if citizens have to pay to enter?
I'm not one for fireworks displays, but the Lake Contrary display drew a LOT of people every year. What a bummer.
June 25, 2009 at 8:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HickFromSticks says...
More good news! The St. Joe Mustangs Fireworks Spectacular on Saturday nights are fantastic! Would urge St. Joe families to attend the Mustangs game Saturday, July 4th!
June 25, 2009 at 8:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
fanofsports says...
I agree with BCotter. Why is the city giving Trails West money when they charge admission?
June 25, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goobentrot says...
Congtatulations heritage. You should run for public office. By the time I was finished with your post I began to hear the Star Spangled Banner in the background. The only thing you left out was motherhood and apple pie. Where you have it over most politicians though is that your ideas are financially possible make sense and could be done.
June 25, 2009 at 9:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
The sad thing about all of this is that this was one of our main fundraisers. We sold tshirts, had a cake walk, among other things to raise money to cover the pump costs. Without the draw of the fireworks, no one would attend the event. KCP&L charged us 1865. for one month last summer for running the pumps. We can't afford that on our Association dues each yr. Our membership is getting smaller and smaller. Very few people can afford the 30. per yr that live around here. Heck, KCP&L won't even honor our tax exempt status, they keep charging us the taxes on top of the base rate. Also, a local band was wanting to play on the 4th, no charge, and since there's no fireworks, no band now. So we were working on a large event until Mr. Hook informed us there was not enough money to cover Jeremy's costs for fireworks.
We do have a cookbook available as our fundraiser this yr, but seems like it's tough for people to pay the 10 for it. Sales have been slow. Anyone interested in purchasing a book or donating money, contact Joan or Donna, or Clyde Weeks at Robidoux Row Museum.
Also, Mr. Hook did not inform us until it was way too late to raise the money to cover the cost of fireworks. We are barely covering the cost of the pumps as it is.
June 25, 2009 at 10:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tigersfan says...
On a side note: There will not be a fireworks display at Lake Contrary; due to the level of toxic chemicals in the lake have making the entire lake flammable and fear of it actually catching on fire has caused the cancellation of the firework display.
June 25, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
mustang, i am ashamed to admit that i have not been to lake contrary. i have seen all the amazing old photos of how lovely it once was.......
my ignorance is showing here........ what is the pump for?
i am sorry to hear that this is causing your neighborhood such strife. maybe the NP could do a story on your difficulties and help bring attention to the need.
June 25, 2009 at 11:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
akm says...
Is the pump for the lake? Plz explain?
June 25, 2009 at 11:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
incredulous says...
The southside is a city within a city, we will not comply with Heritage's demands to ally with Saint Joseph!
June 25, 2009 at 12:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
singlemomof3 says...
Hopefully not all southenders feel the way Incredulous feels. Its called tearing down the walls. No one can force you to be nice but a neighborly hand is being extended. Why be so bitter? Life is too short!
June 25, 2009 at 1:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
To answer some questions about the pumps, they are to try and oxygenate the water to prevent any fish kills. We run 2 pumps during the hottest weather but mainly 1 pump runs from late spring to late fall. There are times we turn it on during winter to break the ice up a bit so fish can get oxygen. During cloudy, humid and high heat times, the oxygen levels will drop. If there's no wind, then that will excerbate the problem ten fold. Also, the pumps help to maintain what ever water level we can reach according to the Missouri River. We stay at the level of what ever the river is. There are 34 relief wells in the federal levee alongside of the lake, and when the river reaches 14.5 ft high for 3 days, then 1/3 of those wells will pump water into the lake. Then next the next third of the wells will come on when the river reaches 15 ft and the last third will come on when the river reaches 17ft. Those wells seldom run now since the river is kept at low levels, so we don't get any water from the river any more. Our pumps are from wells approx 84ft down, and it's filtered through cedar linings and sand before it's pumped into the lake, so it's clean water that we receive from them. They are vital to the fish habitat as the water trickles down the rocky area, that action oxygenates the water. We had a huge fish kill some yrs ago, water level in the lake was super low, and the heat was unbearable, no wind, and it was cloudy and humid. We lost approx 160 tons of fish, some estimates reached 220 tons. County helped us with loaders and trucks to haul the dead fish to the landfill, but it was a few of us on the Lake Assoc that did the hauling of the fish out of the lake. It did finally get overwhelming enough that the county brought the prisoners down for 1 day to help us out. Anyway, that is the reason for the pumps.
If we had the extra 5,000 for fireworks, then we wouldn't use it for the fireworks, it would go directly to the pumps. KCP&L do not give us any breaks at all, even though we are a tax exempt organization. Aquila never gave us any breaks either, but St Joe Light and Power, yrs ago, only charged us half rate to help us out.
We desparately need help to fund the pumps so if you see a cookbook out somewhere, please buy one. We worked hard to put it together. The cover is a painting that I did of the "Sylvia", the race boat from the early 1900's. They used to have some wonderful old sailboat races here, among many other things. Clyde wrote a fantastic book about the history of the lake a few yrs ago.
June 25, 2009 at 2:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
We do welcome any help, there are maybe 8 to 10 of us that consistantly work on projects for the lake, so please, anyone with any new ideas for fundraisers are more than welcome to contact any of us. I will have cookbooks with me at my booth at Southside Festival at Hyde Park, plus a large donation jar too. So come on down and let's have a chat!!!
June 25, 2009 at 2:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
238er says...
Mustang, problem is that you maybe a not for profit, but probably do not qualify as a 501(c)(3) so KCPL is going to continue to charge sales tax until you do. Honestly what you need to do is for a Neighborhood Improvement District or some such animal to allow a small tax to be place on all properties benefitting from the Lake. This could pay for the pumping, repairs to the pump, etc. Depending on other factors, it could raise money for dredging the lake and other improvements. It would be a reasonable consideration.
June 25, 2009 at 4:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
Thanks 238er, all good ideas and well worth looking into. We are non profit status but not c3 yet, but are working on that. We do have tax exempt status, locals honor it, Orschelns does, each time we have to purchase something there. I have a copy of that letter to use when I purchase items for lake use, like bleach for the restrooms, toilet paper, things like that.
Yrs ago we had gotten a large supportive group together and discussed the county tax situation, possibly something small like 1/8th or 1/16th, but county officials weren't willing to put it on the ballot at that time. We do need repairs to the 2nd pump, it's on its last leg and really is unusable right now. Need 20,000. to fix it, which of course we don't have. Everyone that does live in this district that's on city sewer, we're already taxed to death with paying the huge sewer bill like Country Club Village. Also, we pay an extra 25. per hookup per quarter, just for maintenance costs on the sewer system.
Also, while at Joans for her interview earlier, noticed that we do have some small dead fish floating in, so this recent hot weather could be the start of a fish kill. Sure hope not, but it's a possible reality. We're running only the main pump now and so the far reaching corners of the lake are hurting already. Let's hope for some cooler weather to come in.
June 25, 2009 at 7:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
238er says...
mustang, one of the best things that would help the lake (off water) would be cleaning up some of the properties around it. The property owners would be greatly benefited by a increase in the quality of the housing and getting rid of many of the trailers and some of the ill kept houses. I know that is a truth many in this city don't want to hear, but it would really help revive the lake. People have to want to go somewhere and the "front door" to the lake is not the best.
I think a county wide sales tax would be a hard sell, but something more localized would be easier.
Perhaps you need to put together a plan and get some stimulus money to pay for it. Shovel ready right!!
June 25, 2009 at 9:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
That's the crap that I've been fighting. I've contacted DNR, state reps and county commissioners. No help from any of them. I've been hauling trash out of the lake for yrs now, and this yr has been the worst. Rob Schaff had a bill in last session that was to address the problem of nuisance properies but it didn't pass. I had Martin Rucker and Ron Hook down here about a month ago and they saw first hand the amount of trash in the water and could not believe it. Martin Rucker asked me to testify in January when they're back in session, so maybe he could work on passing a bill concerning trashy property. So we'll see. I've pulled out a car bumper, 4 oil filters, lots of oil containers, a kids sled, a kids wading pool, tires and lots of foam food containers. It's amounted to probably 3 truck loads of trash this spring so far. I had located the problem properties where there are approx 3 dozen tires on the edge of the lake waiting to float out, plus a heaping pile of trash there also. No government entities can get involved since no one lives there and we aren't able to find out the names, yet, but still working on that one. Need to visit the courthouse and dig around a bit.
We've been here 22 yrs, in an old trailer. We keep our place nice and neat and well landscaped. Problem is with the rentals in the area, those managers aren't able to enforce the rules. No laws to back them up out in the county. We are working on the problem as best we can, including buying up more property and enforcing the rules in our area and I keep pulling the trash out of the lake and disposing of it at our expense. I'm sure it's quite a site watching me in our canoe tugging at the tires I find and bringing them home, but at least I am doing the best that I can. Just got my husband out of the hospital tonight from having quadruple bypass surgery and guess where I was at 9pm. Out on the dock with my rake pulling cans, bottles and foam plates out of the water. Even found an old wooden welcome sign. Some welcome home for him.
June 26, 2009 at 12:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mustang says...
Truthfully, it's a shame that we have to pass yet another law that concerns common sense. Anyone with any common sense should already know that people shouldn't litter a lake, or property. I guess people just don't care any more.
June 26, 2009 at 12:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
teeter59 says...
Well, the romantic idea of bringing the City together brought a tear to my eye, but you forgot that one good thing about having the 3 separate firework displays was the amount of people. The traffic was a nightmare even then, but to combine them all??? Better take a book and a sack lunch to get out once it is over. It took us 3 hours to get out of the Lake area 3 years ago, and don't even get me started on the fiasco that was the plan to set off fireworks in Krug park...hahahahha. NIGHTMARE traffic. Makes perfect sense to me why Trails west would get a piece of the pie. It is the City's baby. Remember when it was the "Freedom Festival" Then it was moved to the "City Park" by "City Hall" and the "City" sort of took over? Then it became Trails West. Funny, although I lived with the concrete fence around the park, for 50 years and it looked fine, The "City" decided we needed to paint it...(for Trail's West hahahah) and just look at it now. They could have saved some money and let some little kids paint it. No warranty on that paint job? Started looking awful within 6 months and now ...it is an eyesore. Ironic that we set off fireworks to celebrate our freedom and yet our freedom is being taken from us. I saw on the news tonight that the only fireworks you can set off are sparklers, snakes, smoke bombs and small fountains. Gee, WHOO HOO. Hold me back. ha ha.
June 30, 2009 at 10:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
preciouslmh says...
To Whom it may concern: I'm just so disappointed we are not going to have a Fireworks display at Lake Contrary this year. We do not have money to spend for Fireworks, so we really look forward to this event. We live here in the South End, not far from the lake. This was a wonderful event for the children. They were able to play games, cook out, and then watch the awesome Fireworks display over the lake. We were able to spend around $25.00 for our entire family to enjoy a nice 4th of July. The kids walked in the cake walk, built cardboard boats for the boat race, and they loved the Treasure Hunt, the Watermelon game in the water, and all the bands that this event brought. The kids were able to see their friends from the neighborhood and from school. Not once did the kids ever complain about not having a lot of their own fireworks. This event filled a need for this south side community. When we got home the kids were tired and went to bed saying they had the best 4th ever and each year it got better. Now its gone and why? Why did the South End get screwed yet once again? This year, for most of us south enders, has been hard. There have been a lot of layoffs, and prices going sky high. There is very little or no money to go around. Many have lost their jobs, and some their homes. This was something we needed and looked so forward to. The kids are heart broken. Sure, there will be a Fireworks display at the casino, but they don't have what the South End had. Why did they take it away? Who was the brains on this deal? Who was the one who took it away? I would like to know. I would really like to know what person made this decision. I heard a big chunk of the money went to Trails west. You know the old Freedom Festival that isn't even free anymore. I will never go to Trails West again because not only is it not free, there is virtually no parking and it got touristy and greedy. We went to that every year until they decided to charge and make it impossible to be affordable for a large family. The price of food, drinks, art, everything is so high. It is just a rip off now. We were able to spend 35.00 dollars for 4 people and have a good time, that isn't the case now. And before some person who makes 50,000 or more a year writes in and says Trails West is cheap entertainment, blah blah blah, I ask you to consider that price on a salary of $27,000 before taxes, for a family of 4, with prices soaring out of control, new and mysterious costs being added to all the utility bills, and food out of sight! Don't even get me started about fuel, and insurance. Jobs in this town don't pay well anymore and with all the layoffs we have had to face, we are lucky to have a roof over our heads. Whoever did this, I hope you are happy.
July 2, 2009 at 2:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )