On Tuesday evening, the Woodstock Selectboard discussed the fireworks and Fourth of July festivities that were held in town earlier this month.
Woodstock Municipal Manager Eric Duffy opened the discussion by stating, “This has been my third Independence Day in this position, and the planning, the organization, the contracts have all flown through my office for the annual fireworks celebration in Woodstock. This year, the selectboard expressed their desire to stop that process, with the hope that a local organization would take it over, or that a local volunteer group would step into a larger planning role.”
The discussion at the meeting delved into whether or not the selectboard would be involved in the planning and financing of the Independence Day celebration at all, and who would be reserving next year’s fireworks.
Susan Ford, vice chair of the selectboard, said, “The town was not always involved in Fourth of July planning. In archives dating back to 2009, I found that it was either the Chamber of Commerce or the Rotary Club responsible for the fireworks. I also found that the weekend’s festivities were run mostly by volunteer groups and nonprofits. Kids’ activities were run by Spectrum; music was paid for and reserved by Pentangle Arts. Slowly but surely, it became solely the town’s responsibility. I think we should be getting back to making Independence Day a community event, with the many vibrant organizations in town being in charge. It takes a lot of staff time and angst, followed by intense criticism, for us to run the fireworks. I do not feel it meets our goals that we have stated, and I think this change in leadership and planning must happen soon.”
For more on this, please see our July 24 edition of the Vermont Standard.