Parade and Fireworks 6/18/26

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Parade Fireworks Minutes 06-18-26 63 KB

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Richmond Fourth of July Committee minutes

Attendees: Donna Niquette, Sue Glennon, Rebecca Roose, Julie Wahlin, Justin Spence, Stefani Hartsfield, Tommy Carpenter

June 18, 2026

Call to order: 7:07

Agenda

1. Approve minutes - all in favor.
2. Business Solicitation updates -
   1. Tom mentioned that on the parade sign ups, Performance Motor noted that they would like to be a gold sponsor. Rebecca will reach out to them.
   2. Rebecca talked to a person who lives in Richmond part-time and is involved with VYCC and would like to be a sponsor. Rebecca will follow up with him.
   3. Rebecca reviewed all of the sponsors and what level of promotion their sponsorship gets them to make sure we have done the promotion. She also sent logos and information to Chris to print the banners.
3. Coin drop review
   1. $4320.87 without Venmo is the total that the committee counted. $4314.56 is the total from Susanne at the town. We think the difference is due to the removal of Canadian coins. This is a record setting amount!!
   2. $1300 - 1 dollar bills!
   3. Great turnout from folks donating and volunteers. It was a busy saturday all day. We ran out of the venmo/donation slips by 9:00 am and printed more.
   4. Tom said that Josh thinks there is about $1800 in Venmo. Josh will transfer it over when he has a chance.
   5. Susanne Parent, town clerk, helped with the coin drop all day. Wonderful collaboration.
   6. Excellent collaboration and long day of hard work in the sun. Next year we need at least 2000 of the venmo/paid tickets.
   7. Stefani left an IOU at the library for printing and needs to go back to pay with cash or check and then get reimbursed. The library staff said that the money goes directly to the town, so it will be town money going to the town. But will be good to have a solid paper trail.
4. Financials
   1. No new deposits since March 31st to NSB account.
   2. Stefani asked about the FPF ad from Northstar fireworks about them selling fireworks at 48% off. Justin said that those are backyard fireworks not large display. Sue offered to still call DJ and ask if they have any extra fireworks, can we pre-order for next year and capitalize on that discount.
   3. Julie suggested having a donation bucket and venmo sign at the fourth of july information booth all day.
   4. We anticipate that fourth of July costs will be at least $32,000 next year.
5. Vendor update
   1. Tom updated that there are a few vendors who have not yet paid. Tom is in contact
   2. The church is signed up to do watermelon again this year.
   3. Justin and Stefani verified some of the power and location needs for certain vendors. Justin has the master map for where all vendors will be located. Marketing - Rebecca reached out to Seven Days and BFP - mentioned the increase in fireworks prices due to tariffs and asked if other towns are experiencing this. Hinesburg is not having fireworks this year. This will likely increase the traffic at the Richmond display. What are other towns experiencing? She will let us know what they hear back.
   4. Tom talked to Don from the local radio station and will interview him on the morning show on 6/29. MMCTV may do something as well. MMCTV always live streams the parade
   5. Rebecca showed the full list of sponsors and their check of sponsor level appropriate marketing from the committee Verifying the signs needed and what we have.
6. Parade
   1. Sign ups are slow right now but Justin and Sue anticipate they will come in last minute
   2. Election year- in election years there are often candidates who show up to march in the parade on the day of. We should plan to anticipate that.
   3. Rebecca and team will continue to promote parade and float sign ups.
7. Other Business
   1. Sue talked to Richmond Market about the gift card. It needs to be used for the ice. It is too late to go up to their corporate headquarters for a donation. We need to start earlier next year to get a donation from Richmond Market through their owner group.
   2. We still need another vehicle with lights to help with blocking traffic for the fun run and parade. A car with lights needs to block Jericho road above CHMS while the runners are coming down for safety.
   3. Sue reached out to Casella numerous times about the second dumpster. She has not been able to get through. She will keep trying.
   4. It is too soon to talk to Amtrak about the slow order for the train. Sue will call closer to the 4th.
   5. Tom asked about a table and chairs for people to sit and eat at. There are 30 chairs at the town center that can be borrowed.
   6. Kids games prizes will be at the information table with the guessing jar. Kids will win their raffle tickets at the kids games and then bring them to the information / prize table to redeem for a prize.
   7. Tom mentioned that he has had a few requests to keep the traffic off of Bridge street after the parade ends for a few minutes while all the kids and pedestrians move towards the park. Tom will talk to Andy about holding the cars back for a bit until people have moved safely away.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Next meeting June 25th, 7pm

Schedule

10:30am Northfield Savings Bank Fun Run

10:35-11:00am - Parade

11:00-2:00pm - Games, raffles, food vendors, bouncy houses + more

1:30pm+ - DJ & Music

Dusk/9:15 - Fireworks