WALLINGFORD FIREWORKS FUND – The deadline hammer is falling…

I’ve had my conversation with the Mayor; the money is due on Friday May 27th – end of story. I made the case for a couple more weeks but I was unable to convince him to change his mind on the matter.

So from there we more forward, about $5,900.00 short as of today.

I have two pledges outstanding at $900.00 so that means, technically, we are $5,000.00 short IF (BIG “IF”) the pledges come in.

I have to work all week in New York City so I am effectively unavailable but I am putting every moment of time I can spare to the effort. (I am writing this post to Wallingford Politico from the train on my ride home. It’ll be cross posted to my other blogs on Tuesday). I do have Friday off and my Dad is collecting as much as he can at Dunkin Donuts this week. I am going to try to see if I can stand at Stop and Shop on Friday (it will depend if I can get permission and if no one else has the time booked).

The bottom line at this point is that it is highly unlikely that we can collect everything we need from individual donors by the deadline.

We will continue to do so anyway; I am working on something that may get us a bridge for a couple of additional weeks beyond the Mayor’s deadline. That would allow us to both get the money in to the town on time AND to continue collecting for the next two or three weekends into June.

In the meantime it is always possible that one of the larger businesses I solicited might come through for us.

A lot can happen in four days and I am driving full bore to the finish.

AGENDA - PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING

TOWN COUNCIL

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE


TOWN HALL, ROOM 315


THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

6:30 P.M.


AGENDA

1. Opening / Pledge of Allegiance

2. Discussion and Possible Action with regard to the "Redwood Flea Market" site

3. Discussion and Possible Action with regard to use of ATV's (All-Terrain Vehicles) without permission of the land owner.

4. Adjournment

FROM THE PAGES OF THE RECORD JOURNAL - Fireworks fund drive still short

As published in the Record Journal, Saturday May 21, 2011

By Robert Cyr
Record-Journal staff

WALLINGFORD — The annual Independence Day-weekend fireworks display, dropped by the town and saved by two residents last year, is $6,000 short of the amount needed to hold the half-hour celebration, attended annually by about 10,000 people.

Event coordinator Jason Zandri said it costs $24,000, half for the display and the rest to pay overtime for police and fire personnel. The deadline to raise the money is Friday, and Zandri said he’s going to ask Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. for an extra three or four days.

“I am unfortunately overwhelmed doing this, and can’t mail letters to everyone I’d like to,” he said. “I’m not really thinking I can’t get that money over the next 10 days — it will materialize.”

Dickinson, who hasn’t yet heard from Zandri about an extension, said the town will need to know by the end of next week whether or not there’s enough money for the entire show, to allow time for securing state permits and scheduling employees from the Police Department, Public Works and the Fire Department.

“We’ve indicated we do not have money in the budget for this kind of purpose, so the money has to be raised by outside means,” he said. “It’s a showing of community support for it, or not. If there aren’t funds sufficient to do it, we certainly need to understand that.

”The fireworks show, which would be held July 2, could get some last-minute support, the way a late push made it a reality last year. In the last week of fundraising in 2010, Choate Rosemary Hall made a $5,000 donation. That allowed Zandri and his fundraising partner, Town Councilor Craig Fishbein, to meet their goal, and it gave them a $4,000 head start on this year’s drive.

In November, the Wallingford Fireworks Fund Inc. won nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service after being rejected twice. Fishbein and Zandri rewrote the application with help from the secretary of the state’s office, and the fund was accepted as a 501(c)(3) organization, allowing people to claim the gifts as charitable donations on their tax returns.

The fireworks are launched from a knoll near Moran Middle School, and Zandri said he’ll be mailing requests for donations to that part of town.