Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
After announcing at the June 23 regular city council meeting that headliner Little River Band would be canceled due to cost concerns, Oregon mayor Michael Seferian told The Press on July 2 that Monsters of Yacht will now headline the event.
There was initially a headliner replacement with Jump, a Van Halen tribute band, but a scheduling conflict forced a switch to Monsters of Yacht. Originally, the Little River Band would have cost approximately $56,000. Monsters of Yacht will come in around $15,000.
It was a quick change of plans from the June 23 meeting in which Seferian announced in his mayor’s report that Little River Band was out the door.
“I felt it was in the best interest of not only the city, but for the event to actually cancel the headliner and proceed with the bands we have, gear them up, and I believe we can pull off something very spectacular on that same day,” he said. “Everything else is lined up. It will allow us to feature more kid events and all in all, I think we can still pull off a very pleasing event and something everybody will be proud of.”
Seferian also said at the meeting that he will be working with finance director Nick Roman to meet back up with sponsors and balance the final cost in relation to expected revenue. Seferian will then come back before council at their next meeting to raise appropriations to the estimated calculation.
“We want to go to each of the folks that chose to be a sponsor and secure those funds, so that when we come to you with a proposal for raising the appropriations, we can be convinced that we will have no problem raising that money,” he said.
The city has $12,000 carryover from last year’s event funds, an additional $30,000 approved from this year’s city funds towards Boomfest, and is anticipating $48,500 in donations from major business sponsors.
With all the late uncertainty over the event the past several weeks, councilman Steve Hornyak was one of those who raised concern at a June 18 parks and recreation meeting. He said the event should have been planned out at the start of the year, and it should take place closer to the July 4th holiday.
“We have to start taking this on earlier so that we can let our community know what we are doing, what our plan is and that we can deliver something first class for our citizens,” he said.
Boomfest has been a tradition in Oregon since 2010, a summer celebration typically geared around the Fourth of July holiday. The event drew more than 10,000 people last year.
Boomfest, which will take place Saturday, Aug. 9 at Dunn Chevy on Dustin Road, will host three local bands in addition to Monsters of Yacht – The Grape Smugglers, Arctic Clam and Chris Shutters – The Eric Clapton Experience. It will also include activities such as an arts and crafts show, a fireworks show, food trucks and other vendors.
The arts and crafts show will start at 2 p.m., while the music will commence at 5 p.m.
Press News editor Nicholas Huenefeld also contributed to this story.
