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Sun Valley Press Releases
Arcata, CA, July 4, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [read more press releases]
  
Creating a World of Color in Sun Valley's Hometown

Thanks to a last ditch effort by Sun Valley Floral Farms President and CEO Lane DeVries, it looks as if pyrotechnics might light up Arcata's Fourth of July sky after all.

"I'm so excited right now, it's unbelievable," DeVries said Thursday evening, moments after hearing the news that he might have saved Arcata's fireworks.

Earlier this month, the Arcata Chamber of Commerce, which runs the annual July Fourth Jubilee, announced that it had come up short in raising funds for the event's pyrotechnics. To make matters worse, Pam Godwin, president of the chamber's board of directors, said that the deadline for a deposit on the fireworks had passed in April and the situation appeared hopeless.

Apparently, DeVries didn't get the memo, saying he only found out about the situation Wednesday.

"I was stunned by that announcement and thought, 'This can't be true,'" he said. "Arcata without fireworks -- that's not right."

Initially, Godwin said DeVries offered to have Sun Valley Floral Farms front the approximately $8,000 expense. When Godwin told him deadlines had passed, DeVries started calling pyrotechnic companies on his own. His calls to the company that has provided the city's fireworks for the past 25 years didn't go anywhere, DeVries said, but another company was more than willing to step to the plate.

"The folks we're talking to right now are very willing to accommodate us," DeVries said, adding that the city agreed to issue him a permit today and that only the fire marshal's approval remains. The new development came just days after the Humboldt Crabs issued a press release critical of the Chamber of Commerce's handling of the fireworks situation. Randy Robertson, volunteer president of the Crabs' board of directors, said the organization was upset by the lack of communication from the chamber. Robertson pointed out that the fireworks are an important part of the Crabs' holiday, which features two games and historically has culminated in families taking to the field to watch the show. He said it is inexplicable why the chamber didn't approach the team in April when it knew of the financial problems.

"Nobody approached us," Robertson said. "There was virtually no communication back to us saying this is not going to happen." Robertson said the board of directors requested that the chamber repay the team's $500 donation to the festivities, which has traditionally gone toward the purchase of fireworks. After learning that DeVries may have saved the pyrotechnics, Robertson said he thought the board would be more than happy to contribute that $500. Godwin agreed that communication has been a problem. "It's one big, fat misunderstanding that they are very upset with," Godwin said.

The chamber also has some other problems on its plate. Strapped with a $1,700 bill for plaza law enforcement for the event, Godwin said she still doesn't know where those funds will come from. She said the chamber has been actively soliciting donations, but hasn't gotten far.

"We've made absolutely no headway at all," Godwin said. "There's more of an uproar about the fireworks not going off than anyone worrying about that."

She said the chamber is prepared to front the money with the hope that the event will bring in enough funds to pay the chamber back after the event.

"We have to go forward with it, so we're going to put out the money and hope for the best," she said.

DeVries said he has much the same hope. Sun Valley Floral Farms will purchase the fireworks, he said, but hopes not to pay the whole tab. "We'll just guarantee that the funds are there, and in the meantime we can do a 'Save the Fireworks in Arcata' fund," DeVries said. "Anybody who wants to contribute to that, I'm certainly not going to say no."
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