Fundraising officially launched for 2017 July 4th Fireworks Spectacular!

January 11, 2017
Santa Paula News

You don’t think too hard about the 4th of July on a cold, rainy January day unless you’re a member of the Fireworks Spectacular Committee, which has officially launched fundraising for the 2017 patriotic celebration. 

“We wouldn’t be able to have an Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular without the generous support of the community,” said Ginger Gherardi, Santa Paula’s Vice Mayor and Past President of the Rotary Club of Santa Paula, which acts as the nonprofit fiscal agent for the event.

The reason for the fundraising kickoff is timing: the committee must provide a 50 percent deposit on the approximate $15,000 cost of the fireworks spectacular to secure the date and the polytechnic company.

The City of Santa Paula is a co-sponsor the fireworks show, held each year at Harding Park. But, the show of pyrotechnics is visible throughout the city.

In recent years Dorcas Thille donated about $15,000 of Calavo Co. stock to start a Fireworks Spectacular Endowment Fund, which eventually could provide much of the funding for the annual show. 

The Fireworks Spectacular is considered one of the best events in a city known far and wide for its celebrations.

“The entrance to Harding Park is free,” said Gherardi, “but people can observe the fireworks throughout Santa Paula. Many residents even have gatherings at their homes that offer a good view of the fireworks — and if it is clear enough you can see the fireworks celebrations in Fillmore and Ventura from Santa Paula hillsides!”

Started by the Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce, later the City of Santa Paula started staging the show until the Great Recession; in 2009 the Fireworks Spectacular was cancelled.

In the wake of the dark sky the Fireworks Committee was formed, which staged the show the next year and has continued to do so annually.

Gherardi said sponsors and individuals support the Fireworks Spectacular, including those donations of change and small bills deposited in patriotic red, white and blue countertop collection cans displayed by area merchants.

“Every donation,” she noted, “no matter how small, counts.”

The city’s co-sponsorship is waiving the permit for the event and supplying already on duty public safety personnel.

Make tax-deductible donation checks or money orders out to Santa Paula Rotary Club with “Fireworks” written on the memo line. Donations can be given to any member of the Rotary Club or mailed to Santa Paula Rotary Club, P.O. Box 809, Santa Paula, CA 93061.

For more information contact Fireworks Spectacular Committee Co-Chair Al Guilin, 805-525-8839 or email 

al.guilin@verizon.com





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