Pottstown's Fourth Of July committee expects you'll see fireworks again this summer in Memorial Park on King Street.

POTTSTOWN PA – Despite a lack of funds, worries over a loss of public trust, and the need to fend off false rumors about its demise, a representative of Pottstown’s non-profit Fourth of July celebration committee says it fully expects to conduct a two-day observance of the holiday this year, including a High Street parade and fireworks.

Just in case it can’t, however, a member of the Sanatoga PA-based Sunnybrook Foundation claims his organization could step in to help.

Pottstown’s Independence Day bash, staged downtown and in Memorial Park on King Street, has been a signature local event for decades. Tens of thousands of people annually stream into the borough to enjoy the holiday’s carnival-like atmosphere, a huge classic car show, home-town inspired contests, and tributes to the nation and those who serve it.

If committee co-chair Karen Imes and her colleagues have anything to say about it, those Fourth fans will come again this year as well. “We’re working very hard to pull this thing together, and we feel like it’s going to happen,” Imes said Tuesday (March 30, 2010). She conceded, though, that it won’t be easy.

Fund-raising efforts have barely kept pace with rising celebration expenses over several years. It cost slightly more than $45,000 to stage the 2009 events, all of which were paid for with contributions from individuals and groups. Committee members worry that, as a result of the tightened local economy, soliciting donations may now become even more difficult.

Then there’s what some call “the Reber problem.” It refers to allegations that former Pottstown Parks and Recreation Department Director John Reber stole more than $15,000 in committee funds last summer; Reber has pleaded not guilty to the theft and related charges. Imes acknowledges that the circumstances have somewhat tarnished public opinion of the observance.

“I don’t know if we can overcome the trust problem,” she said, “but that’s the reason we have to work harder than ever to make this year’s events happen. We don’t want to let one bad incident ruin this for everybody.”

County and state investigations into the alleged theft have created other headaches for the committee, too. It has responded several times to requests by authorities for information – the most recent submission was made Monday (March 29), Imes confirmed – to ensure that Independence Day Ltd., the business name used by the committee, can continue normal operations.

Two different sources, both of whom requested anonymity, said the committee’s communications with investigators could have ended months earlier if one of its independent contractors had supplied requested information on a timely basis. Imes declined to comment on that speculation.

With so much work ahead, and with The Big Day(s) only 94 days away, there’s been an growing amount of small talk over whether the committee can succeed. Rumors fueled by social media conversations and e-mails earlier this month first claimed the parade would be canceled, then that the fireworks would be canceled, and then that the Fourth would pass in Pottstown without a peep.

Not true, not true, and definitely not true, Imes repeated.

Directors of the group operating Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., it seems, hadn’t heard that message.

Sunnybrook board member J. Wilmer “Wil” Hallman recently appeared at the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Board of Commissioners‘ meeting to thank the township for assistance it offered to the non-profit organization, and then mentioned the persistent rumors. If the Fourth celebration was threatened, he suggested, maybe “Sunnybrook and the township could collaborate” to save it.

Hallman wasn’t specific, and commissioners made no commitments, but should Pottstown’s committee determine it could not conduct Independence Day events “it might be a good time for us to do something together,” he told the board.

Imes insists, politely, that won’t be necessary.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ March 18 meeting):

• Charlotte Street Lot Condition Frustrates Board
• What A Difference Five Decades Can Make
• Notebook Worthy
• Township Hires Consultant To Find Interchange Business
• Zoning, Subdivision Laws On Township’s Agenda

Photo by Mei Teng, via StockXchng

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