The Marshall County Blueberry Festival will have a larger fireworks display this year, thanks to the City of Plymouth. Members of the Plymouth Common Council Monday voted to give the festival $25,000 for upgrades to this year’s fireworks. That’s in addition to the $39,000 already budgeted for fireworks by the festival’s organizers.
Blueberry Festival Board Vice-President Phil Martin told the council that the festival is celebrating a major anniversary this year and organizers want an upgraded fireworks show to reflect that, “This is our 50th anniversary, so we’re trying to make it the biggest one, biggest there is.” He added that the special fireworks show would last up to 50 minutes.
However, council member Shawn Grobe pointed out that the city has lowered the festival’s lease payment and asked Martin about the need for a display of that length. “My attention span doesn’t even last that long,” he said. “It’s a sizable amount of money. Are people going to know that something’s different? That’s what I’m trying to get at. Are they going to appreciate it, are they going to know it’s different?” Martin responded that there would be a noticeable difference and reminded the council that the fireworks display is already one of the festival’s biggest attractions.
During the previous Common Council meeting, city officials expressed concern at being the only community asked to contribute additional funds. On Monday, Martin said that festival organizers are in the process of asking for help from other places, “We are currently doing that, as far as we’re still searching for other communities to do that. But mostly, this is Marshall County and Plymouth is the county seat, so probably 90 percent of everything we do comes within the City of Plymouth.”
However, he told the council that the festival is seeking help from some other organizations, “We’re increasing our funding, and that’s why we’re outreaching for a lot more this year. I mean, it’s our 50th anniversary. We’re asking for more from all of our sponsors. Our local banks, we’re asking them to put more money forth, and anybody that’s donating to us now, we’re asking for some extra for this.”
The council approved the request for $25,000, with Grobe opposing the measure.
