Jun 25, 2009 10:54 pm US/Central
Cities Try To Keep 'Oohs & Aahs' In Fourth Of July
MANKATO, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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(Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)
It's an American tradition -- fireworks on the Fourth of July. But in this new economy, Minnesota towns are having a tough time paying for the celebrations.
So people think what better way to celebrate the birth of our nation than to have a sky sparkling with color? Imagine a Fourth of July without it.
"The people in our area didn't really think about it until this year when they announced the funding was leaving," said Jo Guck Bailey, General Manager of
Radio Mankato, "I think they thought that it was their right of privilege to just have the fireworks go off on the Fourth of July."
Bailey and the staff at Radio Mankato couldn't stand the thought of no fireworks in their hometown.
"We are calling it 'Red, Hot and Boom,'" said Bailey. "And we've got T-shirts that have been created by someone who donated them. We've got a logo that we created. And we're having a lot of fun with making Mankato own its fireworks."
The locally-owned station started a campaign to raise funds. It's all over the air and around town.
Deejay Brad Steele is waiting on tables at Applebee's. The restaurant is contributing 15 percent of all sales on this day to keep the Fourth booming in Mankato.
"Oh, this is an event that's 6,000 to 7,000 people attend," said
Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges.
Traditionally, the city covered about half the cost of the show at Blakeslee Stadium each year. Most of that is for police safety and traffic control. The greater Mankato business community paid for the rest.
However, with this economy, business just couldn't put up the cash and the city couldn't pick up the tab.
"In our case, it wasn't an empty threat," said Hentges. "We just simply weren't going to add dollars to the budget to fill a hole that had historically been a partnership."
Mankato's not the only Minnesota town where the tradition is threatened. Elk River has canceled their Fourth of July fireworks. And many towns -- from Albert Lea to Excelsior -- rely more and more on private money to keep this government holiday alive.
"I think you're going to see more and more of that," said Bailey. "The things that really matter to people in their communities are going to become really owned by the people that live there."
The response to Radio Mankato's "Red, Hot and Boom" has been huge. So far they've raised $22,000. And that means the skies over Mankato will drip with shiny colors this Independence Day.
"It's going to mean a lot more I think than it's ever meant to us and also to the public that watch them because it's their fireworks. It's not the city's anymore. It's them who made it happen," said Bailey.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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