The annual Fourth of July Stars Over Montauk fireworks show at Umbrella Beach may cease after this year, according to Montauk Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laraine Creegan.
Participation in the farmers markets, raffles, advertisements, and a GoFundMe page have not been enough to raise even half of the $24,000 that the chamber needs to pay for the “Fireworks by Grucci” show, which will light up every town beach in Montauk on Saturday, possibly for the last time.
As of last Friday afternoon, only a few days shy of the holiday, the chamber had raised a mere $7,900.
“If we can’t raise it, we have to take it out of our funds,” Ms. Creegan said. She added that it is even much more than the numerical amount of $24,000 that goes into preparing for the show. There are extra expenses and a lot of extra effort involved. The chamber must meet with the chief of the fire department, the fire marshal, the local parks and recreation department, and traffic police to work out the logistics, she said.
This will be the chamber’s second year in a row with a large deficit because of the declining donations to the fireworks show. It gets more difficult to raise money as each year passes, Ms. Creegan said.
This year, the chamber attempted to mimic Shelter Island’s success by attempting to raise $24,000 through a GoFundMe account—but, as of this week, it had raised only $750. In contrast, within three weeks of setting up its account, Shelter Island was able to pay for the entire Grucci fireworks show.
“We can’t continue to be in deficit,” Ms. Creegan said, adding, “I have to operate the chamber, and need to afford to do payroll.”
The costly fireworks show is also posing another problem for the chamber, as it wants to continue supporting its other causes, such as the Montauk Food Pantry and its own scholarship fund, plus to give help to people in need over the Christmas holiday. “We don’t want to take those funds away to pay for fireworks,” Ms. Creegan said. “At this point, we are hoping for an angel.”
Ms. Creegan explained that next year, the chamber will have to take a serious look at its priorities. It cannot continue to pay $15,000 out of pocket for a fireworks show without more support from the public. “Look, the economy is good,” she said, “but it’s not that great.”
This week, the chamber was still trying to raise funds for fireworks and planned to set up shop in front of the local IGA and post office to try to get donations the old-fashioned way.
On Tuesday, Ms. Creegan would not comment on the amount of donations received since last week. “I’m hoping and I’m looking positively—I have to—that we will meet our goal,” she said.
Alisha Steindecker on Jun 30, 2015