Bloomingdale looking again at Septemberfest

Bloomingdale officials on Monday discussed ideas to resurrect the village's popular Septemberfest, which was canceled last year due to budget constraints.

The long-running festival traditionally held the weekend after Labor Day, included live music, a parade, car and motorcycle shows, food and more.

Cutting the festival in 2010 saved the village $35,000 at a time when Bloomingdale is facing the same struggles as other suburbs — a drop in revenue from sales tax and real estate taxes, as well as delayed payments from the state.

On Monday, the village board discussed options for putting on the festival this year at a cost of $20,0000 to $25,000.

One suggestion offered was recruiting volunteers to help public works crews with parade detail and fest cleanup.

Michael Marchi, director of village services, said it might be possible to have several public works employees paired with teams of volunteers. Police Chief Frank Giammarese also said volunteers could be used to help assist police officers at the event in order to save money.

The village also plans to save more than $2,000 by cutting back on newspaper advertising for the fest and promoting it through the village newsletter and on Twitter.

The village will use its hotel tax revenues to pay for the fest, and booth fees would be the only source of revenue to from the event, Village President Bob Iden said.

Several trustees recommended soliciting sponsorships from businesses.

“Roselle is doing it with their fireworks,” Trustee Robert Czernek said. “If they got the chamber (Roselle Chamber of Commerce and Industry) involved, then maybe we should try that too.”

Last year, current school District 13 board member Susan Lancaster tried to resurrect the fest with private sponsorships and volunteers shortly after its cancellation, but she could not secure enough backers.

Czernek and Trustees James King and Michael Hovde all said they hoped to see the Septemberfest return, since it is a small-scale event targeted at local residents and building community.

“I do think this is one of the historical festivals; this is the identity of the town,” Hovde said Monday. “Time is tight to get it done this year, but I think the (budget) is feasible.”

Officials will decide during a committee meeting Thursday if they want to commit to funding the festival this year.

Last year the village also canceled its larger-scale Family Fest, which typically was held for four days in late June and included fireworks. The event costs about $250,000 to stage, but was only generating about $150,000 in revenues in recent years.