Thursday, October 1, 2009

MY FIRST FESTIVAL AS MAYOR!

Here is one of my ideas for improving Belle Vernon in a small way. I think it would be really great to start with Graham Street Park. I think that a summer festival at the Park would be a great way to raise funds for many improvements I'd like to make. I'd like to buid a nice makeshift stage and hire a great local sound company for that stage. I'd like to bring in a few great bands that people would travel from all over to come see (I definitely could pull some strings to get some great bands, and with my newfound Mayor-dom I could probably get them to play for free with a promise of a great time and helping the community). I'd also have a couple of the best local bands come and play at the festival. I'd make tickets affordable, and have all of the proceeds go toward the improvements I'd like to make. I'd also have all local churches and businesses be able to set up tents and booth to sell whatever they'd like to sell, which in turn helps out a lot of local businesses as well. All I would ask is that each booth charge 1 dollar more for every item they sell. For example, at a gyro stand, charge 6 dollars instead of 5 for a delicious gyro. That extra dollar from each gyro, or hot dog, or basket of chicken fingers will go toward the park improvements. Obviously food and bands would not be the only thing going on. I would definitely have a 3-on-3 basketball tournament going on during the festival. The entry fee would be 15 dollars per team, and the winning team would take home a nice prize purse. A percentage of the entry fees would also go toward the Park improvements. I would time the tournament so that the final game would happen during the headlining band, to make sure that the game has an AMAZING soundtrack! I'd also have many other tournaments and contests going on that would interest a lot of people. Some of my initial ideas: a Connect 4 tournament, a Scrabble tournament, an Arm Wrestling competition, a Freestyle Rap contest, a Bench Press competition, and a Grilling contest. I'd like to have something that would interest every single person in Belle Vernon. When it was all said and done, and everyone in Belle Vernon had the time of their lives at this amazing Park festival, this is what I'd like to do with the money raised...

- Build a nice amphitheater in the Park for future festivals and events

- Renovate the basketball court and tennis court

- Hire a local company to build a small fitness center for everyone to use, because not everyone can afford expensive gym memberships

- Hire a security officer to keep the park safe and free of crime

Steve brought up the question of basketball nets for the court. Well, I have the answer for you. I will pay for new nets out of my own pocket, because that's how much I believe in the Park!

Steve, being my Vice-Mayor candidate, also brought up the point that the things that I want to do would be expensive. My answer to Steve is that I want to raise 100,000 dollars with this festival, which is not a ridiculous thing to think if I could get a cool band like Aerosmith to play. I'm sure Aerosmith would play for free if I promised them a few gyros and let them stay with me.

Obviously I'd be wearing my tux at the FEST.

BEAUTIFUL GREEN FEST!

Please leave me comments letting me know some of your ideas. That's one thing about me being mayor, I will ALWAYS welcome suggestions of how to make the FESTIVAL better!

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