Belleville City Council discusses pros, cons of Strawberry Festival

An hour-long discussion on the Belleville National Strawberry Festival took place at the Belleville City Council’s Feb. 18 meeting and at the end the future of the festival was in doubt.
On the agenda was the annual approval for Strawberry Festival policies and that’s what set off the discussion.
The festival’s executive director Joan Bodnar and its vendor coordinator Sharon Pokerwinski were in the front row of the audience, present to answer any questions.
Bodnar said the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce will come to the council separately to present a request for the carnival. She said there were no changes to the policy from last year.
Councilman Tom Fielder, who also is president of the festival, said the usual procedure is to refer the policy to the city manager for a recommendation.
Fire Chief Brian Loranger said, “The dogs annoy the crap out of me, and the skateboards.” He asked if just the police department handled enforcement of the no dogs, no skateboards rules.
Bodnar said when she sees people with dogs, she goes out and tells them to leave. She said she also asks the police for help and they are very helpful.
Although signs tell of the no-dogs, no-skateboard rules for the festival, the signs are posted at each end of Main Street. Chief Loranger asked if the signs can be put at each intersection, at each side street.
Mike Kole of the chamber of commerce said the chamber wants to negotiate with the city manager because it has been unfairly charged for numerous things.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said with the newly hired interim city manager Tracey Schultz Kobylarz, she will take a new look at it with a fresh set of eyes.
Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Marcotte said he is also interested in resetting the city’s fee schedule.
That’s when Councilman Ken Voigt began a lengthy statement questioning the worth of the festival, which started in 1976.
He said it is the 44th year of the festival and in the beginning there were three churches, strawberry growers, and all the service clubs in town, with a strict no-commercial policy. He said there was a very nice juried craft area in the bank parking lot.
He said the three churches made quite a bit of money for good works and St. Anthony Catholic Church cleared $100,000 to use for school expenses.
Councilman Voigt said when they let in food vendors, they put the service club food booths out of business because they couldn’t compete. And, two of the three churches no longer are involved and there no longer is entertainment downtown.
“The best parts no longer exist,” Voigt said.
He said the chamber would make $40,000 to $50,000 from the carnival rides and that would fund the chamber activities.
Kole said $12,000 was cleared by the chamber last year.
The Central Business Community made $3,500 off the crafters, Voigt said.
Festival treasurer Janet Millard is craft coordinator and gets 20% of the crafter fees.
“Six figures down to this,” he said.
“Why are we doing this?” he asked. “Disrupting our town for four days – and no strawberries. Why are we doing this event? Just because we’ve always done it is no excuse.”
He said last year the festival took in $80,000 and they had to pay Bodnar and Pokerwinski. There was $800 left.
He said the festival used to give money to the school and it built the stage in Van Buren Park.
“I don’t see the benefit of the festival,” Voigt said. “And the reason can’t be just because we’ve done it for 44 years.”
“Four of us sat on this board for 20 years,” said Councilman Fielder. He said they have been trying to reinvent this wheel and haven’t come up with anything new.
Councilwoman Kelly Bates suggested they go to other communities and ask them for ideas. When they replied they have gone to other festivals to see what they had, Councilwoman Bates said they should talk directly to their organizers.
Pokerwinski said the other festivals are “different than ours.” She said the commercial vendors were in place before she came along.
“I worked with Plymouth for years,” Bates said. “It is crafts, not commercial. You want to support small crafters. Get away from the carnival to a street fair.”
“We’re looking for entertainment under the tent at the Fourth Street Square,” Pokerwinski said, adding that takes money and they are looking for sponsors.
“We need to reconceptualize the whole festival,” said Barbara Miller.
She suggested a Dragon Boat Festival which would bring people from all over.
“Those are pretty cool,” Voigt said.
Miller said it would take several years to get it started and they would need to get a Dragon Boat team.
“Strawberry Festival was great in its time,” Miller said. “Last year was a disappointment. It was awful. No entertainment. No buskers.”
Voigt said he read the 1986 articles of incorporation of the Strawberry Festival (with his mother-in-law as one of the signers) and the purpose stated was “to perpetuate a continual community project with a theme of strawberries grown in the area to provide supplemental fund raising for all participating civic, church and non-profit organizations in the Belleville area, strengthen community spirit and pride and give the Belleville area national identity.”
“Now it’s only benefitting the community to the tune of $15,000. Am I wrong?” Voigt asked.
Bodnar said she’s been contacted by 15 tours interested in coming. She said the festival attracts people to town.
“All they see is junk on Main Street and a carnival,” Voigt said. “Now I see it as a net negative to the community … carney rides and elephant ears.”
He said if you bring the people to town, all they see is Main Street and it’s not doing the city any good economically.
“It’s not worth $15,000 to shut the city down for four days and tax our public safety,” he said. “The decisions made before you [the present festival organizers] allowing commercial vendors in was a big mistake.” He said in the late 1980s or early 1990s they started allowing commercial vendors.
Chief Loranger said he doesn’t live in the city but he’s had his chiropractic office here for 34 years. He said in the early days the Kiwanis sold bratwurst at the festival and made a lot of money.
“We got shoved out,” he said. “Nobody got paid. It was a volunteer thing. Service clubs made money. I take part in Dexter Days where they have Lions, Kiwanis, and other local vendors.”
Kole said the chamber ran a poll and 70% said they wouldn’t come to the festival. He said 40% of the money goes to two people.
“We don’t need that $12,000,” he said, noting the people on Main Street – chamber members – don’t want it.
He said the festival brings in people from the outside and chamber members have to close their businesses that weekend.
Marcotte said the city has so many different activities that bring people to town, including all the CBC events, the car show, Music Lakeside, Winter Fest, and Booville.
He said the strawberry farms have gone away, but the lake hasn’t dried up. There is a sense of community.
“The ones who pay the taxes are leaving that week end,” Kole said.
“We have the Lions Club coming and free dental,” Pokerwinski said. “And, this year we’re bringing in entertainment, trying to get sponsors. Vendors were in place when we got here.”
“I’m not blaming you guys,” Voigt said. “I don’t want to see it go away. But, how does it benefit the community?”
Bodnar said she has commercials starting the week before the festival and Belleville will be the City of the Week. She said Meijer has pulled out of other festivals, but it’s coming back to Belleville.
“But, how does that help the community?” Voigt persisted.
Bodnar said the festival gives free booths to store owners in front of their stores, but some don’t want them.
Therese Antoinelli of Moving the Mitten said to Pokerwinski that she’s never seen her and Pokerwinski said she left information with her employees.
Kole said a person had to staff the booth all weekend or he was charged.
Bates suggested they have a meeting with the people on Main Street to see what they think.
“Do you post when you meet?” Miller asked and Pokerwinski said it is the second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m.
Later it was pointed out by Antoinelli that the next meeting actually is Thursday, March 26, at 6 p.m. at Victory Station.
“It’s still not benefitting the community,” Voigt said. “How can we make it a vital event again?”
Miller said she and others do enjoy the parade and the car show.
Voigt recalled the good times at the festival with a chicken dinner and gambling at St. Anthony, and how shocked he was to see nuns gambling.
“I even liked the beer tent,” he said. “It was a giant class reunion. Now, I don’t see the benefit.”
“We didn’t know St. Anthony was pulling out,” Pokerwinski said. “Father John did it himself. I went and talked with him. He’s not interested in anything going on in town.”
Becky Hasen said, “I think Strawberry Festival needs to go away. I went to the meetings and they say they don’t hear anything negative about the festival.
“The president of Strawberry Festival is the representative from the city on the festival committee,” she said.
Councilman Fielder, president of the festival, said Kim Tindall was the city representative and she left. Since then he has been the only person there from the city so he brings back the information.
“Outside people are using our community for four days,” Kole said.
Voigt said when he was running for council last fall he talked to 100 people in town and they had lots to say about the festival.
“I know, I can leave town or sit on my porch with a shotgun,” Voigt said. “How does this help the community?”
“I try to promote Belleville in the radio stations,” Bodnar said. “Meijer is still willing to support the Strawberry Festival and you can’t force businesses to have a booth.”
“Window salesmen? All this junk. It’s actually working against it,” Voigt said of promoting the city.
Bodnar said she lives in Allen Park and she brings in a lot of people to Belleville from Rochester and Sterling Heights.
Bill Wolters, president of the CBC, said the chamber used funds from past festivals to buy an empty building and turn it into offices. And, the chamber gave $10,000 and then $5,000 to the Educational Foundation.
“You throw a huge festival … and at the end of the day it has become the carnival,” Antoinelli said. “Our town is not reaping any of those benefits.”
Mayor Conley said this has been talked about before.
“This wasn’t an attack on you personally,” she said to Bodnar and Pokerwinski.
She said the city wants an event that brings people “because we’re different, because we’re special and they will want to come back.”
Mayor Conley said the festival had something unique in the past and now there is nothing. She said Belleville competes against Liberty Fest in Canton on Father’s Day week end.
“I will go to Plymouth, to the Ann Arbor Art Fair,” she said, noting people travel to see the unique items. “We’re hearing from business owners who don’t like it. Either we should not have it or have something interesting and unique.”
“Should be stop accepting money?” Bodnar asked.
Pokerwinski said they could rename it and bring in something else.
“I’m not saying we should cancel it this year,” Voigt said. “Strawberry Festival has done a lot for this community and at the present time it’s not doing anything. It’s cheaper to write a check to the CBC for $3,500. The chamber doesn’t care if it gets the money from the festival.”
The council voted unanimously to refer the festival policy to interim city manager Tracey Schultz Kobylarz for a recommendation.
“It’s late in the game this year,” said Fielder.
City Manager Kobylarz said it is a good idea for her to sit down with the Strawberry Festival organization and she already had planned to attend the chamber event the next day.
“Maybe I’ll bring back a revised policy, but it has to happen quickly,” she said.