Gale Development / Campus at Greenhill pledges $10,000; $7,000 more needed by May 30th

This is it folks; where the donations really matter the most.

Campus at Greenhill as stepped up for 2014 with a $10,000.00 and offered to partner with The Fund to save our event. This brings their three year total partnership donations to $40,000 with $15,000 donated in 2012 and $15,000 donated in 2013.

Once this donation is received (expected this week by wire transfer) we are still technically $10,000 short for the show.

With that, we are not going to be able to fund the R Band performance. In 2010 and 2011 there was not enough in donations to fund them for the show. They did play in 2012 and 2013. If somehow we raise additional funds in time we will add them back in but as it stands we are unlikely to have the money to cover their costs, the costs of the sound system and the overtime for Public Works to set up and remove the ShowMobile.

Reducing that expense puts us at $7,000 to go and 13 days to do it (from this blog post on 5/17).

This morning we are going to be at the Landfill, The Recycling Center and the Yalesville Dunkin Donuts so if you can swing by with a donation that would be great.

Additionally you can donate by mail; make checks out to: “Wallingford Fireworks Fund” and send to:

Wallingford Fireworks Fund
c/o Jason Zandri,
35 Lincoln Drive EXT
Wallingford, CT 06492

We also accept donations by PayPal:

So the bottom line is this – our biggest deficit to overcome was 2011 where we needed $5,000 in the last two weeks.

This one is $2,000 more than that in the same time.

This is Wallingford so we are just going to get it done with your help.

Let’s roll

Shake the pail collections on Saturday morning April 12th

March as well as the first week of April have come and gone.

Our collection balance is just $3,230.00 presently; that is about 11% of what we need. We had an original collection goal for 2014 of $35,000.00 we have reduced that to the bare minimum of $30,000.00 which puts the performance of the R Band at the show at risk (that is the first thing we have cut in the past to save the overall show as it is a larger item and the show can continue without it as needed.

The deadline for the donation to the town of Wallingford is May 30th for the show scheduled for July 5th, 2014

If we cannot collect what is needed to pay for the entire event there will be no show this year; at this point in time, just as it has been since 2010, the Town itself is not affording any funding to this event. The job to save the celebration is ours “we the people” to make or break.

We will be at the Wallingford Landfill and the Recycling Center until about noon today if you can swing by and drop your donation into the bucket.

Alternately – you can mail your tax deductable donation (we are a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization - tax id# is 27-2576599) to:

Wallingford Fireworks Fund
c/o 35 Lincoln Drive EXT
Wallingford CT 06492

We also accept donations online via Paypal

 

As a reminder of all the costs we have to bear:

Wallingford is going to be able to extend the bid that we had on the show we’ve been getting over the prior two years at $11,925.00

The other costs that they have available for us are as follows:
R- Band                       $2,090.00
Sound                          $1,100.00
Public Works               $  400.00
Port-o-Lets                   $  200.00

The above costs are $15,715.00

I am still waiting on the costs for the Fire Marshall, the Board of Ed person for Sheehan and the overtime for the Fire Department and the Police Department as the Fund is responsible for those costs as well.

In 2013 those costs were:

Board of Ed                                   $  425.00
Fire Marshall                                  $  950.00
Fire Department Overtime            $2,100.00
Police Department Overtime        $8,250.00

So we are looking at least at an additional $11,725.00 on top of the known $15,715.00

This is our task for 2014. It is up to Wallingford businesses and residents again, as it has been since 2010, to save the show.

We hope you can help out in any way you can; every dollar helps.

Fireworks by DIANNE J. MANVILLE

Letter to the editor as published in the Record Journal Friday July 12, 2013

Editor: It was Saturday, July 6th. A hot summer night, clear with no rain in sight. And then they began. The town of Wallingford’s sky was lit up with a super spectacular fireworks display. Seeing the colors paint the sky, feeling that boom inside you, seeing the smiles and glee on the children’s faces, feeling patriotic for the love of our country — that’s what it is all about. All this made possible for the Town of Wallingford by the tireless efforts of Jason Zandri, all the wonderful people involved in helping through the Wallingford Fireworks Fund and all the generous contributions from caring people and organizations.

This was the 4th year that this effort to give the town of Wallingford an awesome fireworks display was successful to keep an ageless joy and tradition alive. No money was allocated for fireworks in the Wallingford town budget, not for the fireworks, the police overtime, the fire department overtime or any of the other town services; the entire burden was on the fund to come through with the money and they did in spades as they were able to restore the R Band performance and add to the show’s grand finale. Jason and his effort through the fund saw to it that the children and adults of Wallingford had the thrill of watching the sky sing “happy birthday” to America. It was all grand and the grand finale was second to none. Blasting away on a hot summer’s night, beautiful fireworks, colorful and bright.

Many thanks.

DIANNE J. MANVILLE, WALLINGFORD

Grand Finale - Campus at Greenhill 2013 Wallingford Fireworks Independence Day celebration Saturday July 6, 2013

Fireworks Display - from the Town of Wallingford website

As originally posted at http://www.town.wallingford.ct.us/Events/eventView.asp?EventID=238

"In the event of inclement weather, the decision to cancel the display will be made by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Local television and radio stations will be notified of the cancellation."

We will also post it on the blog here as well.

Fireworks Display

Wallingford

Saturday, July 6, 2013
9:00 PM

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Sheehan High School
142 Hope Hill Road
Wallingford, CT 06492

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The Town of Wallingford will be hosting the Annual Fireworks Display near the grounds of Mark T. Sheehan High School on Saturday, July 6, 2013. The display is scheduled to start after 9:00 p.m. There is no rain date. In the event of inclement weather, the decision to cancel the display will be made by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Local television and radio stations will be notified of the cancellation.

Public parking will be available at Moran Middle School, Sheehan High School, Highland Elementary School, and in the paved parking lot of Our Lady of Fatima Church. Parking in fire lanes, on sidewalks, or on the grass is prohibited.

There will be no parking along Hope Hill Road and some of the side streets where posted. Through traffic on Hope Hill Road will be prohibited when all of the parking lots at the schools are full, or at 8:30 p.m., whichever comes first.

The fireworks will be visible from the grounds of any of the schools where public parking is available. Spectators should plan to arrive early; well in advance of dusk is strongly recommended.

Given the size of the crowd and the close proximity of spectators, the use of any type of fireworks, including the use of sparklers, is prohibited on any Town property. Please note that alcoholic beverages are also prohibited. In addition, the Police Department routinely receives complaints about the use of silly string and snappers by children in the crowd. Accordingly, we are requesting that parents supervise their children's activities so that the fireworks display remains an enjoyable family event.

At the conclusion of the event, there will be two NORTHBOUND lanes of traffic on Hope Hill Road from the northern most driveways of Sheehan High School and Moran Middle School to ROUTE 68. There will be two SOUTHBOUND lanes on Hope Hill Road from the southern most driveways of Sheehan High School and Moran Middle School to the intersection of PARKER FARMS ROAD. Officers will be on site directing traffic throughout the event.

Long range forecast is looking good right now; High of 87, Chance of rain just 10%

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that as we get closer things do not destabilize. So far, so good.

Rock Hill KKids make a donation towards the Campus at Greenhill 2013 Wallingford Fireworks Independence Day Celebration Grand Finale

The Rock Hill KKids made a donation this AM. I’ll have more on this in another post over the weekend but in short it was a $273.00 donation that I am going to match so that makes the donation $546.00 and with Atlas matching the donation from The Fund this donation is $1,092.00 in total going towards the Campus at Greenhill 2013 Wallingford Fireworks Independence Day Celebration Grand Finale!

Rock Hill KKids, what can I say? You do in fact, ROCK!

VIDEO – The Wallingford Fireworks Fund makes the donation to the Town of Wallingford

Below is the video clip from the May 25th Town Council meeting where Steve Murray, Wayne Montefusco, and myself made the donation to the Town of Wallingford for the Campus at Greenhill 2013 Wallingford Fireworks Celebration.

The money collected and donated not only covered the cost for the Independence Day Fireworks celebration (including all the costs for the town services and overtime) but it also covered the costs to have the R Band perform. Those costs are the fees for the band itself along with the additional overtime for Public Works and use of the ShowMobile and the sound system rental and setup.

This is incredibly important to note; the Fund has never been able to save the R Band performance before. The performance in 2012 was made possible by funds remaining in the Park and Recreation budget the the Council restored for that use; prior to that the last time they performed was the last time the event was paid for by the town which was 2009.

That was all made possible by you Wallingford. Pat yourselves on the back and keep up to date on the blog for any other updates between now and the Independence Day Fireworks celebration (just 34 days away at the time of this post on June 2, 2013).

Donations ensure Wallingford’s July Fourth fireworks

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday May 29, 2013

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD — For the fourth consecutive year, fundraising has made the annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration possible.

The fireworks show is scheduled for July 6 at 9:15 p.m. Fireworks will be launched from the knoll by Moran Middle School and will be viewable from the grounds of Sheehan High School and Highland Elementary School.

In 2009, the mayor stopped including funds for fireworks show in the town budget. In response, Town Councilors Jason Zandri and Craig Fishbein formed the Wallingford Fireworks Fund, a nonprofit organization, to raise money for the event. Fishbein has since ended his participation with the group, but still advocates for the show. Zandri continues to work with a small group of volunteers that collected the approximately $30,000 that’s needed for the show.

The group began its fundraising effort in March, when Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. informed Zandri that the fireworks show would again be left out of the budget. Since then, the group has raised $29,548.

Zandri said a minimum of $24,000 is needed for the show. An additional $3,300 will be used for the R-Band, an orchestral group that will play music during the fireworks.

The expected $3,000 surplus will be set aside for next year’s show. Zandri, a Democrat who is running for mayor, said the money won’t be needed if he is elected because he would include funds for the fireworks show in the budget.

Town Council Vice Chairman Vincent Cervoni congratulated Zandri and his fellow fundraisers. “If people feel strongly about something, they will contribute to it,” Cervoni said.

Dickinson, a Republican who has yet to announce whether he will seek his 16th term as mayor, has said that budget issues are to blame for the absence of fireworks funding.

“I don’t dislike fireworks,” Dickinson said. “I think they’re fun, actually.”

Money received from the fireworks fund will be appropriated to various departments, Dickinson said. Costs for the event include $11,576 for the fireworks show, $10,900 for emergency services overtime, $180 for bathrooms, and $400 each for the services of the Public Works Department and the Board of Education.

About $3,500 was raised at a dinner last week. About $5,000 was raised while asking for donations at local businesses, including Dunkin’ Donuts and Stop & Shop. A $15,000 donation came from The Campus at Greenhill, a Wallingford office complex on Route 68 that’s run by Gale Development Services. The Campus at Greenhill also donated $15,000 last year. “They want to be a good community partner,” Zandri said.

Because of the donation, the event will be titled Campus at Greenhill 2013 Wallingford Fireworks Celebration.

Fishbein called the office complex a “great partner in raising money” for the event. The fireworks show “is always an event I’ve supported,” he said, adding that it’s “unfortunate the town doesn’t see fit to fund it.”

Fishbein said about 12,000 people show up for the show every year.

Zandri thanked his father, Geno Zandri, for countless hours of work collecting donations.

CONGRATULATIONS WALLINGFORD; You’ve saved the 2013 Fireworks and restored the R Band Performance

All the checks are deposited and while there are still a few bills left to pay there’s enough money remaining in the “remainder” bucket to cover everything INCLUDING the R Band performance which the Fund has never been able to do before. The performance in 2012 was made possible by funds remaining in the Park and recreation budget; prior to that the last time they performed was the last time the event was paid for by the town which was 2009.

I had two checks made out today from the bank before they closed at 2PM.

The first one is for the fireworks event itself which covers all the costs for the show and whoever the town contracts with (The Fund does not pick the fireworks vendor – Wallingford does that on its own). These costs include the fireworks themselves and all the town services; The Fund pays for everything:

In addition to that, we were able to keep our costs to a minimum and with that savings and the stretch fundraising we did this weekend off the Dinner Fundraiser take, we were also able to cut a check for an additional $3,300.00 to cover the costs of the R Band and the sound system rental and the costs associated with using the Wallingford Show Mobile.

A lot of things had to come together to make this possible and it all comes back to people willing to get involved and help us; from the volunteers collecting to John and Jane Wallingford coming out to make donations to the buckets and coming to the dinner to support the cause.

It was the businesses who have supported us this year (and some for four years running) by taking ads in the program book and pledging at higher sponsorship levels. (Over the next few weeks I am going post all of the sponsors and donators here on the blog).

It was Gale Development and the Campus at Greenhill making the pledge to be the Naming Convention Sponsor for the second year in a row and coming through with that donation in the nick of time.

It was all these things together; no one thing was going to save the show all by itself but any one thing missing could have prevented it from becoming a reality.

Once again, Wallingford pulls all at once and gets it done.

Congratulations Wallingford; we hope you enjoy your show – scheduled (weather permitting, there is NO RAIN DATE) for Saturday July 6th, 2013 at nightfall (around 9:15PM) shot off from the knoll by Moran Middle School and viewed from the grounds of Sheehan and Highland Schools.

We’ll see you there.

26th Annual CELEBRATE WALLINGFORD is this weekend

Quick note – I will be there this weekend, weather permitting – Sunday may be up in the air. I will be collecting donations for the Wallingford Fireworks Fund. Hope to see you there

 

As published in the supplement to the Record Journal on Friday October 5, 2012

By Elizabeth Landow , Executive Director, Wallingford Center Inc.

Once again, it is time for CELEBRATE WALLINGFORD!! The first weekend in October marks the biggest event of the year. It is the time of the year that we can truly appreciate this wonderful town we live in!

After five years in our Hall Street location, we are excited to be holding the event up at the South and North Main Streets location.

This is a wonderful opportunity to 'taste' the specialties of many of Wallingford's finest restaurants and recognize the civic and non-profit organizations that help make this town what it is! Please stop by and admire the handicraft of the many participating crafters and be sure to check out the businesses that are participating this year – there are several new local entrepreneurs who have decided to showcase their businesses at the festival.

For the fourth year, we will be hosting a Homemade pie contest – the judges can't wait to taste the wonderful entries this year and as always we have a delightful selection of music scheduled to entertain you.

WCI is thrilled once again to join forces with the Health Department and the Wallingford Family YMCA to present the 3rd Annual Activate Wallingford Health Walk and we are happy to announce that theca will be hosting a 'Fitness Fun Zone', in the Holy Trinity School parking lot. Please stop by to see what all the excitement is about!

A new addition this year is the 'New' Car Show!! Several of Wallingford's car dealers will be displaying the exciting new models of cars in the parking lot behind Simpson Court.

Another exciting feature this year is the 'Harvest Fair' down at the gazebo – please walk down to the railroad station green where you can find several of the local farmers selling pumpkins, mums and all sorts of things to get you into the Autumn mood and along the way be sure to stop by the local stores and shop a bit and pay special attention to the youth groups that will have a tent on the sidewalks – these kids will be showcasing their organizations and selling their fundraisers.

And last but not least – please walk through the Cemetery and view the wonderful artwork done by area adults and children and organized by Easel Works and take a moment to admire the beautiful Cemetery that is so well – maintained and is a truly a treasured part of Wallingford's history.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Wallingford Center, Inc., I would like to thank our major sponsors, Stop & Shop, Mid-State Medical and Ferguson &McGuire As well as our other sponsors: Nucor, John J. Kovacs Insurance and Plunske's Garage for their continued support to Celebrate Wallingford. WCI is fortunate to have the support of Mayor Dickinson and the town officials. If not for the help of our volunteers and dedicated town employees this event would not be possible. On a personal note – I would like to thanks all the WCI Board members who selflessly dedicate their time and energy to do whatever is needed to make this a successful event year after year.

Please come down and spend the day with us and CELEBRATE WALLINGFORD!!

GRAND FINALE Campus at Greenhill Wallingford Fireworks Fund 2012 Independence Day Celebration

TONIGHT - Campus at Greenhill Wallingford Fireworks Fund 2012 Independence Day Celebration

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Sheehan High School

Wallingford

Connecticut

On the grounds of Sheehan High School on Hope Hill Road

The show itself starts at dusk - around 9:15 or so but plan to arrive early.

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YEAH! THE INSTABILITY IN THE AIR IS DISSIPATING!

The new weather map projections are in our favor

We are all in now; it is technically too late to cancel all the over time and The Fund would have to pay out all that money.

The weather makes or breaks us now

One last squall line projected for 8:30; so far the cards are in play

That’s the projected map for 8:30PM – about 45 minutes from show time.

If that holds and the Town doesn’t jump the gun (and with a little luck) perhaps that line get’s through.

The ground may be wet but all we need are dry skies at 9:15 to 9:30 and we can get this show off.

Time will tell.

I’m done with my yard work and I am headed to the shower and then I’ll be onsite at Sheehan.

Cross your fingers.

Rain showing on the map but nothing coming down

The forecast still shows hit or miss shows to 7:30PM at this point (and if they are like this they are “miss” so far).

30% chance of isolated storms means 70% chance of none; so far I like those odds.

The show is still on at this point - The projected weather for 6PM

Parks and Recreation has not contacted me about any cancelation so as far as I know the show is still set to go.

I’ve looked at the forecast and the Thunder Storm Watch is due to end for our area by 7PM.

The fireworks are lit off after 9:15 – well after the current Watch ends.

Until I hear anything different I presume we are a “go”

Looking at the failing line behind the last front I think things will be clear and lingering showers would be fairly light.

I am sure the ground will be wet and more lawn chair would be needed but I think we can still have the event.

The final decision is not up to me or the Fund at large so let’s hope those that make the decision are in agreement.

There is no rain date and this is the way Wallingford has always done it.

As far as I am concerned, if it’s not raining at 9:15 – light ‘em up

Rolling the dice for tomorrow with the weather…

Here’s the forecast as of right now – 60% chance of good weather and a little on the warm and humid side.

As the fundraising arm of this whole event it isn’t our call whether the show goes on or not because of inclement weather. I believe if I am not mistaken, that call is made by the Parks and Recreation Department.

Here is the deal – there is no rain date; Wallingford has never had one. When it rains the show is cancelled and it ends there for that year. Nothing about this show has really changed all that much except now we raise the funds for it privately.

If the show is called on account of the weather we are done for 2012. If it were up to me and there was make up funds available I would have a rain date. As I said – it is not up to me.

Having said that, there has to be full on persistent rain to make it so the pyrotechnics cannot be launched. Occasional passing shows do not necessarily mean the end of the show.

However, if we are going to get washed out I’d rather have it be earlier than later. You see, if the Police and Fire Departments start showing up for work they are going to get paid and the Fund, not the town, is responsible for that. I would rather take as many funds to 2013 as I could. So if we are to cancel I’d rather have it be pouring at 2PM and it never lets up so that it is a justified call.

I am not going to sweat it. We’ve beat the challenge to raise the funds each year and with a 60% chance of good weather – well, I think we’ll be fine.

See you tomorrow (with the donation bucket for 2013). 

TOMORROW NIGHT - Campus at Greenhill Wallingford Fireworks Fund 2012 Independence Day Celebration

Saturday, July 7, 2012
5:00pm until 10:45pm

Sheehan High School
Wallingford, Connecticut

On the grounds of Sheehan High School beginning after 5PM (show itself starts at dusk - around 9:15 or so).

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Follow the event on Facebook