July 4th Fireworks finalized,
endowment could be formed
Published:  June 05, 2015

Santa Paula will have its annual 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular this Independence Day and if all goes well a new endowment will eventually make the event independent of annual fundraising.

At least that’s the hope now that about $15,000 in stock has been donated to the Santa Paula July 4th Fireworks Committee, Ginger Gherardi told the City Council at the June 1 meeting.

Gherardi, a City Councilwoman, stepped down from the dais and up to the podium to present the city with a $7,500 check, the final payment for the $15,000 it costs to stage the event.

Each year the July 4th Fireworks Spectacular is held at Harding Park and the show of pyrotechnics is visible throughout the city.

Gherardi is a member of the Fireworks Committee that each year collects the funds for the event, co-sponsored by the City of Santa Paula.

The Santa Paula Rotary Club is the nonprofit umbrella agency for the money collection and distribution; Gherardi is a Rotary Past President. 

Councilman Jim Tovias said such presentations remind the community of how the event is funded by donations, otherwise “I think people would take it for granted…”

Gherardi said the donation of 300 shares of Calavo Co. stock — worth about $15,000 — “generously” given by Dorcas Thille, means a new chapter might be started by establishing an endowment for the fireworks show.

If so and sufficient money is raised for annual costs, “In the future perhaps we won’t have to do the fundraising but have money,” each year for the show.

“I think the fireworks show is one of the best things,” done for the community by the community noted Mayor John Procter.

He also thanked Tovias for his past efforts in reviving the fireworks display in the past.

“1988,” noted Tovias.

After the Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce stopped staging the show the City of Santa Paula took it over until the Great Recession when it was cancelled. In the wake of a dark sky on the 4th of July the Fireworks Committee was formed which staged the show the next year and annually since.

Sponsors and individuals support the Fireworks Spectacular, including those donations of change and small bills deposited in patriotic red, white and blue countertop collection cans displayed by area merchants.

The city’s co-sponsorship is waiving the permit for the event and supplying already on duty public safety personnel.

Make tax-deductible donation checks or money orders out to Santa Paula Rotary Club with “Fireworks” written on the memo line. Donations can be given to any member of the Rotary Club or mailed to Santa Paula Rotary Club, P.O. Box 809, Santa Paula, CA 93061.

For more information contact Al Guilin at 805-525-8839 or email 

al.guilin@verizon.com. 




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