Letters to the Editor
From our weekly issue dated June 17, 2009
(Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.)
Typed, double-spaced letters are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered. “Thank you” submissions are not accepted as letters.
No Blackberry Festival?
From Mark Russo,
President, I.V. Wild Blackberry Festival Inc.
Cave Junction
I’ve gone over this plenty of times in my head. How last year’s nonshowing of one third of the paying vendors affected the overall success of the festival.
How nearly a third of the downtown merchants refused to allow vendors to set up in front of their businesses, further hindering our efforts -- and how the free concert we put on in the park was only attended by a dozen or so people. Some nonprofit groups lost money supporting our community festival.
I thought I could blame the poor showing of paying vendors on the inflated gasoline prices last summer, but the majority of the no-shows were local. I’ve also put a lot of thought into the fact that all this happened before the economy went south. Yet, even faced with the obvious, I find this letter hard to write.
This year, The Blackberry Festival was unable to secure needed financial support. Firewood we cut on the Lorna Byrne project went unsold. Expenses to put on a quality festival have increased. I couldn’t with a clear conscience ask people, struggling to pay their own bills, to donate more money to us based on 2008 figures and this year’s economy.
After much consideration and faced with an unreliable source of funding, The Illinois Valley Wild Blackberry Arts & Crafts Festival Board of Directors has elected to suspend the 2009 festival. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. All we can do is be optimistic for a turn-around in the economy, and hope that our community will be more supportive and get involved for Festival 2010.
In the meantime, we ask that people instead support other community-based organizations that no doubt are struggling as well.
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