4th of July

I was going to complain about all the complaining but I have a Complaint.
Don't people read the other posts on a thread before they post!

francklazare said:

In the risk of being called a troll, can we get real about this? It always made me feel uneasy at the fireworks to feel like a privileged resident, opposite the non-paying section, a glaring vision of the racial/economic divide of our town. Surely we could do better than that, specially on the fourth of July? What about the town subsidizing some of the cost for the festivities, so the fireworks could be free? What about scaling rates for children, or free for children? Just saying.

I don't think that people who watch the fireworks without paying do so because of their race or economic status. They don't pay because they don't want to or don't see the value in paying. (Given that there are apparently many "Free" (paid by towns) fireworks nearby, that would be an option for many.) Right or wrong, I think that's closer to the truth than some kind of racial/economic statement about fireworks dividing our town. If we're going to increase our taxes, I'd rather have it go to infrastructure to pave some of these forsaken roads or educational needs.

Thank you to the 4th of July Committee who must work tirelessly to put this together and raise the money needed to run it.

Same tired thread every year.

Too expensive! Not enough security! Too many police! Tear down the gates! Too many out-of-towners - we need more gates!

bella said:

Sorry for the all caps, just frustrated by what is either deliberate obtuseness or just plain lack of ability to to synthesize information.

No reason to apologize. The OP questioned why one had to pay to watch the fireworks. It was explained in detail , by Joan, I believe The OP was satisfied. Then comes someone who apparently reads the OP and comments without reading the rest of the discussion. To me that makes no sense.

Perhaps there are those who don't want to attend the Circus but do want to see the Fireworks, and see the cost of the tags as being principally related to the Circus.

LOST said:

bella said:

Sorry for the all caps, just frustrated by what is either deliberate obtuseness or just plain lack of ability to to synthesize information.

No reason to apologize. The OP questioned why one had to pay to watch the fireworks. It was explained in detail , by Joan, I believe The OP was satisfied. Then comes someone who apparently reads the OP and comments without reading the rest of the discussion. To me that makes no sense.

Thanks! I was beginning to feel as if I was speaking (writing) in a different language than the others !

LOST said:

Perhaps there are those who don't want to attend the Circus but do want to see the Fireworks, and see the cost of the tags as being principally related to the Circus.

The cost is related to the Circus.

That said....I'd actually pay for a ticket every year if it meant we wouldn't be carting desert animals around in trucks to be in a park in New Jersey for entertainment.....

But I digress....

No, they have separate tix for fireworks or circus only - $10 each. Combo is $15.

Thanks. I didn't realize.

sorry but fifteen bucks a head is dirt cheap imho for such a full day's slate of family memories, and local.

Still wondering what the committee thinks about the weather forecast for tonight???

Just came back from the circus and had bought the combo ticket for fireworks tonight at $15 it's totally worth it. Probably won't even go tonight but seeing as we partook in a lot of the free activities it will all even out. The paid activities subsidize the free ones. I'm not sure where people who want free fireworks think the money is going to come from.

@sac, everything I'm hearing (on radio forecasts) and seeing on weather.gov says good weather for fireworks tonight.

LOST said:

Thanks. I didn't realize.

Neither did I.. Thanks, sac.

sac said:

No, they have separate tix for fireworks or circus only - $10 each. Combo is $15.

This is new as of this year which is why LOST and others didn't realize.

That said....I'd actually pay for a ticket every year if it meant we wouldn't be carting desert animals around in trucks to be in a park in New Jersey for entertainment.....

+1,000

I am with scott. We bought our tickets. The kids ran races, threw water balloons and ate icecream in the contest. We cheered our friends who baked. We may still hit the last circus performance, and will see what happens with the weather and fireworks. Seriously, best bargain of the summer.

wendy said:

@sac, everything I'm hearing (on radio forecasts) and seeing on weather.gov says good weather for fireworks tonight.

It wasn't the rain they were worried about earlier today, but rather the wind. Hopefully it will be calm.

I have lived here for 15 years and have been both inside and outside the fence. I agree that the divide is uncomfortable. I do understand why the town can't subsidize...but what about an organized a fundraising effort instead of a ticket price? I would gladly donate 50 bucks to fireworks that everyone can share, whether they donate or not. Throw a fundraiser a la rent party, put donation cups in the stores; get corporate sponsors and hang the (open) gates with banners...have a VIP reception in a tent for big donors. That way you could save the fireworks and offer them free to all.

How about members of the committee walking around the cheap seats aka free areas with a bucket asking for donations. If everyone threw in a dollar or two it would help a lot.

Or combine those two...open the gates to all but send around a bucket!

And when the tally inevitably comes up short?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but isn't there already a fundraising effort that supports the July 4th events? Isn't that what ticket sales are? To raise funds to pay for the event? I think that most people that stay outside the fence and don't pay do so because they don't want to pay for it. Do we need to get corporate sponsors and donation cups involved so people don't sit outside of a fence?

I "donate" enough. Anyone who wants to buy up a bagful of passes and hand them out, have at it. Until then, fifteen bucks for 12 hours of memories is cheeeeeeeap.

surely if fireworks was an important thing to see, folks could adjust their budgets accordingly.

TigerLilly said:

Do we need to get corporate sponsors and donation cups involved so people don't sit outside of a fence?

No.

Maybe they could make the fireworks invisible without special goggles.

I see that people can pay for their families to go to the movies. Maybe they budget for that, but I don't see how fireworks are any different.

If people don't have to pony up, in many cases, they won't feel compelled to donate or it won't be easy enough for them (too many adult beverages; no cash handy; not convenient enough to get up and donate; they forgot; got distracted; more adult beverages; etc).

Are fireworks still on for tonight? Millburn postponed them until tomorrow because if winds.

What's more fun than airborn combustibles with varying trajectories?