This page was exported from Shelburne Free Press [ https://shelburnefreepress.ca ] Export date:Tue Jul 23 4:20:02 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Combining festivities is a bad idea --------------------------------------------------- Dear editor: I am writing to comment on the article “Shelburne organizes ahead for 2014 events” written by Wes Keller in the November 14 Shelburne Free Press newspaper. This article was the topic of several heated discussions I had last week with business owners and residents. Several points brought up were; The various festivals and activities are part of what make Shelburne fun for residents and visitors alike. Combining events into one at the arena would be a huge mistake. Parking alone would be a nightmare. The BIA recently voted to leave the Car Show where it was and when it was. Part of the reason for the car show was to bring outsiders to the downtown core so they could see what stores we have to offer and they could come back at their leisure. Vintage automobile owners aren't going to be too happy about a car show that doesn't start until 1 pm and lasts through to dusk, most will stay for a few hours and want to have their vehicle home safely well before the sun sets, especially those travelling from afar. Car show people don't like parking their vehicles on grass and, if as in the past you get over 100 vehicles, where would they be situated? At the arena? Then where would parking for the open air markets and people attending be? Where would the Heritage exhibits be? In the arena? Free swimming? Then more paid staff would be required. On a holiday weekend people tend to have a BBQ at their home and then at dusk go to watch the fireworks, not spend all day and evening there and if they have young children they are not about to go back and forth. Has the Fair Board been asked their opinion? Lawn mower races, farm animals and hay rides etc. belong at the fair where people look forward to that activity. Beer gardens are at the Fiddle festivities so by having another beer garden actually increases the need and expense for policing. An Easter Egg Hunt at Fiddle Park in April? Either a foot of snow or a mud bog so, no bouncy castle and no stage and again, a parking issue. What costs $1,300 and whom would sponsor this event? Sponsors give money to events that would advertise and benefit their business. So you wouldn't get the Chinese restaurant or Postman Antiques or Jelly Craft Bakery or the veterinarians for example. How would this combining save the town $6,000? It would in fact lower sponsor dollars. Sponsors, both small business and corporate, choose which events to sponsor, many sponsor more than one event. Where does the 15 per cent ticket sales increase come from as all the events in town now are free except for the fair and that money is used for prizes etc. If Ms Crouse is concerned about all the events taking too much time and effort to organize then have a volunteer committee for each event. Similar to how the fair is run, each division has a few people that organize and set up etc. Louise Morfitt, Shelburne --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2013-11-21 09:34:11 Post date GMT: 2013-11-21 14:34:11 Post modified date: 2013-11-27 13:27:25 Post modified date GMT: 2013-11-27 18:27:25 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com