By TIM EVANS
Rantoul Press general manager

Last week, an area community in East Central Illinois voted not to fund its local community festival. The committee was asking for a mere $2,000.

The village trustees making the decision felt the festival committee should have their financial feet on the ground after being in existence for two celebrations previously. They didn’t see enough participation to reinvest in something that wouldn’t benefit the entire community.

We beg to differ. Granted, $2,000 may be a big part of the budget in some of these small towns and may seem like a waste of taxpayer dollars, but think what that support buys:

1) It buys solidarity. It buys a unified belief in the betterment of your community — the community, working together for a cause.

2) It buys business and sales tax dollars. In towns we’ve been in, some of the biggest days for restaurants and convenience stores and bars, ATM usage and retail sales have been on the weekend of a community festival.

3) It buys fun. Yes, and a lot of fun for the entire community — or at least those who want to participate.

4) It brings people to town. Newcomers. Neighbors. People who might think, “this might not be a bad place to live or raise a family, build a home or start a business.”

5) It buys hard work. It’s not easy putting on a festival, lining up a parade or entertainment, special events, dinners, fundraisers and such. This is all done by volunteers, and most of those volunteers have a great time taking part. It creates camaraderie, new friendships and a feeling of great community accomplishment.

6) This is the biggest event of the year in most small towns. Come on now, what’s bigger? The Fourth of July fireworks? Get real. A visit from Santa Claus? Blow it up your chimney. We’re not saying those things aren’t important, but in comparison, a community festival is far more vital to the growth and development of a community.

Maybe what the village is saying is that you’re not doing it right.

Everyone has a “better way” of doing it when that person is not involved.

Granted, we’d be surprised if some or all of this town’s village officials weren’t involved in some way or another. If they weren’t — shame on them. But rather than giving criticism, they need to give guidance, suggestions and support. Be a leader. Stand up and lead.

We don’t think this issue is over in this small town.

Maybe the board will change its mind when it starts to hear from the community and its businesses — basically, its taxpayers. Having a community festival is vital to any community, and we’d encourage them to change their stance and their way of thinking.

On the other hand, we’d like to tell the committee to “reinvent the wheel.” If what you’re doing now isn’t working, then change it. If the festival isn’t making money, create a way to make it profitable.

It may be a little late for this committee to make drastic changes like that as its festival is just four months away, but there are things that can be done to raise money, cut expenses and still have a great community celebration.

As a person who’s been involved with dozens of small-town festivals through the years, including co-chairing one of the three best small town festivals in Illinois for four years, I’ve got a lot of ideas that can help.

If your festival is struggling, I’d love to share those ideas.

Every town is different, but there are some great ideas out there that will work for every town — large or small — without costing the community $2,000.

Tim Evans is general manager of News-Gazette Community Newspapers, including this newspaper. He can be reached at tevans@news-gazette.com or at 217-840-8704.