Despite tight budgets some small towns are refusing to let their holiday celebrations go up in smoke.
Fireworks can cost thousands of dollars, so funding them is all about getting help from the community. In Minden, where the city once funded the celebration, citizens watched the festivities blow up when money got tight. Other small towns are finding ways to prevent that from happening.
It's all about the thrill of independence giving kids the chance to light their own fireworks. Hildreth officials hoped this would help kick off the fourth of July with a bang. "This morning we started at 10:30 a.m. with a parade. We had 75 entries. I think we counted about 850 people watching the parade," said Dale Casper from the Village of Hildreth.
The Village of Hildreth triples in size every July 4th as thousands of dollars worth of fireworks explode in the sky. "We're running about $3,500 this year, which is the same as last year," Casper explained.
The entire day was funded completely by donations. That's one reason the fire hasn't gone out yet.
In Minden, burning through thousands in one night proved too much. "You look at $10,000-$15,000 a year that's a half a block of paving for us. There's a lot of things it can be spent on. It's great for the public to see, but the sponsorships need to be there too," said Minden City Administrator Brenton Lewis.
That's exactly how they afford the fourth in Axtell. First Presbyterian Church gets sponsors to cover the costs of their show. "We try to go out and solicit $3,000 of corporate sponsorships for the fireworks. That gives us somewhere between a 15-20 minute show. Which is a really good show," said Pastor Erica Harley.
Many small towns are getting thrifty hoping to prevent their fireworks from vanishing in to thin air.
Minden officials say they tried the donation route. They offered to match up to $5,000 raised by the public, however, the dollars didn't come in.
Reporter's Notes by Laurie Dutcher:
Minden started scaling back their fireworks show a few years ago. At that time, officials took it from a 30-minute show to a 15-minute show. Even that proved too expensive. "So, in the 2006-2007 budget year we asked for a fundraiser to be held. The council would match up to $5,000 if the citizens could raise another $5,000. At that time no money was raised," said Lewis.
But they didn't scrap the show yet. They had already obligated to purchase their fireworks in 2007, so the show went on. It continued for another year in 2008 when the town celebrated their 125th anniversary. This year it wasn't included in the budget, but the offer to match funds still remained.
Axtell has their celebration the Sunday before July, 4th every year. This year they fed more than 400 people at the family-centered celebration. They also had more sponsors than ever before.
In Hildreth, officials use to entire day as a get together for the community. Beside residents donating money for the festivities, there's also several fundraisers for the community.
