Batavia to have fireworks, but money still needed for the show
Batavia will have a fireworks show this Fourth of July.
How many blasts is yet to be determined — based on donor dollars.
The nonprofit committee that runs the show had announced in February it didn’t have enough money to guarantee a show this year. Members put the pedal to the metal on fundraising, aiming to get $50,000 in its bank account.
As of Tuesday, the committee had about $25,000 in pledges and actual cash, according to member Susan Stark.
That includes $700 that students at Alice Gustafson Elementary School raised in a contest.
“I’ve really been impressed,” said Stark, a Batavia alderman. “People are really contributing.”
The committee has until June 1 to determine how big a show it can afford. It is usually about 30 minutes long. If the committee can only afford 20 minutes of boom, it might space them farther apart, Stark said.
The committee has placed donation buckets around town, which have netted several hundred dollars several times. In May and June, five Batavia restaurants and a Geneva wine store will donate part of their proceeds on certain days, if you bring in a fireworks flier. The flier can be printed off the committee’s website, bataviafireworks.org.
But this weekend is the biggest effort. On Friday and Saturday, the committee conducts the Batavia Citywide Garage Sale. It makes its money off the seller registration fees, and from a committee garage sale down at the former First Baptist Church at Wilson Street and Washington Avenue.
Then on Sunday, organizers will solicit donations from viewers of the Loyalty Day Parade. Look for them riding on, or walking alongside, Batavia’s 1948 fire Engine 3, normally stationed at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum.
Part of the financial woes stem from last year’s Loyalty Day Parade being canceled at the last minute by bad weather. The committee normally receives $2,000 to $3,000 from people watching the parade.
The committee also collects donations at the show, including requesting donations for parking.
It also accepts donations on its website.