Roselle Fourth of July fireworks saved by chamber

It turns out Roselle residents will get their Fourth of July fireworks after all, now that the chamber of commerce stepped in to fund this year’s event.

The annual show traditionally is paid for by the village, but the board of trustees voted in November to cancel the $25,000 event due to Roselle’s strained finances.

This month, however, chamber officials agreed to pay $5,000 for the show, as well as for police and public works overtime. The remainder of the cost will be paid by 10 businesses.

Roselle Trustee and chamber President Terrence Wittman said this year’s show at Lake Park High School’s west campus will be pared down, with aerial fireworks but no ground show. That reduces the cost to about $17,500, he said.

“It will still be the same show people are used to, just without the ground works that are often hard to see,” Wittman said.

Friendly Ford, Langner Eye Care, Heritage Realty & Development, Roselle Bank & Trust and Salerno’s Rosedale Chapels helped sponsor the finale, while the chamber dubbed dentist Jay Mueller as the “rocket sponsor.” Wittman’s company LPL Financial Services is among the “firecracker sponsors,” along with Electri-Flex Company, Bloomingdale Township Assessor John T. Dabrowski and the Bloomingdale Township Republican Party.

“I don’t think people really realized fireworks were canceled because there has been no interruption, but it would have hit them on the Fourth of July,” said Wittman. “We felt it was important to try and keep it, as all the other communities getting rid of their festivals.”

Chamber officials are unsure if they will continue sponsoring the event annually, and Wittman said their role depends on whether Roselle’s financial outlook improves.

“We thought we’d bridge the gap while the village tries to get back on its feet,” he said. “As a village, it made sense for us to cancel it when people are taking furloughs and there are cutbacks. So right now, the way Roselle is keeping their festivals going is by partnering with businesses and the community. Maybe other towns cutting back can do the same.”

This is the second close call for Roselle’s summer events. Earlier this spring, the annual Friday Cruise Nights were canceled when the village said it could not afford to pay police overtime to regulate parking the event. The organizer also balked at the expense and the event was initially called off.

Later, however, Trustees Barbara Rendall-Hochstadt and Wayne Domke met with organizers to create a compromise in parking and other details that did not require extra police, and this year’s Cruise Nights will begin again in June.